Beyond Here Lies Darkness
by LotornoMiko
Summary: A dark, alternative take to my Hook as the Dark One Series. The Dark One thoroughly seduced by the light that is Emma Swan, leaves Hook to pick up the pieces time and time again. Rape warnings in effect...The Darkness is here, and Storybrooke may never be the same...
1. Chapter 1

Standard Disclaimer Time: I do not own Once Upon A Time or the characters from that show. Nor do I make any money off of this story. It is done purely for entertainment purposes.

-Michelle

A few things I feel I need to make clear, warn about. This is NOT the sequel to Light Grasping Darkness. Instead it is a dark, alternate take on that story, a twisted tale of what if, where everything has gone horribly wrong

There will be rape in this, it's not meant to be a particularly happy story. But perhaps a story with some hope in it. But to try to explain why might spoil too much. Suffice it to say, I am trying for something here, but it depends on how the fic flows, how the characters end up feeling and thinking in response to the events that happen. In other words, I have something I am striving for, but the characters may throw me off my planned goal for the fic. Please read with caution...

-Michelle

The darkness stirs. Actually cracks open an eye, allowing a sliver of awareness to seep through. Lazily it takes stock, testing the invisible chains that bind it secure, applying pressure to manacles made alone on one man's strength of will. Casting claws over each link, finding the energy is weakening, the man's strength and confidence wavering. The cracks there that the Dark One feels, makes the darkness wake completely. It sits up just a little straighter, it's awareness turning to the vessel himself.

It is not immediately noticed the cause behind the vessel's weakening. There is no sickness or infection coursing through the body. No injury caused, no healing being attempted. There's not even a particular strong magic being cast, no exacting spell causing the vessel to become distracted. There is nothing, and then the darkness finds a fleeting recognition. Remembers this feeling, this weakness for what it is. Remembering how it has been over three hundred years since it had last felt this twisting of power.

The darkness grows excited, unable to stop it's hissing laughter. The vessel hears what others can not, the man actually flinching in reaction. Shaking as the Dark One claws harder at his insides, rattling the chains, widening the cracks in an attempt to slip free. The vessel, fool that he is, diverts his weakening energies to try and contain the darkness. The vessel knows what the darkness is capable of, knows the monstrosities the Dark One will commit, as it retaliates for over three hundred years of imprisonment. The man knows his loved ones are in danger, that they will be made to pay for HIS crimes, the darkness exacting slow, merciless retribution.

The man fights, actually wastes precious energy on the darkness. Diverts his attention not to the approaching danger of the dagger, but to the monster within. The darkness knows the vessel has nothing but awful choices left to make. He can fight and die, or he can let free the Dark one, let it take over the body and destroy their enemies. And all the latter will cost him is the destruction of everything he has ever held dear.

To Rumplestiltskin there is no choice. He will fight to keep the darkness contained, fight to the bitter end. Fight as though his actions matter in any way, fight as though his death will be the end of the darkness. It won't be, and the darkness laughs all the harder for the vessels' foolish hopes. Whispering silkily in Rumplestiltskin's ear, telling him how the darkness can never truly die. That as long as there is evil in the hearts of man and woman, so long as their hatred and fear remain, there too will be the darkness. Waiting, corrupting, seducing and ultimately destroying.

The vessel recognizes the truth the darkness whispers to him, and the man falters for just a second. The darkness grows stronger, preparing to lunge forward, and then the dagger stabs into the vessel's heart. As Rumplestiltskin screams the chains shatter, and the darkness surges forward. Huge, rolling coils of inky blackness pore out of the opening made by the heart's piercing.

The darkness reaches past the dagger, latches onto the hand that holds it. It caresses the unfamiliar skin, gets a taste of the man, registers the youth and vitality, the surface strength of the body. It scents the driving emotions that guide the man's actions, the hatred and the all consuming despair that cries out for vengeance. And under it, pasts wants and desires, past the raging need that has fueled him, the darkness finds the man weak.

Weaker than Rumplestiltskin had ever been, the darkness lets out a purr of approval. It's evaluation has taken only a second, the darkness learning much about Killian Jones, and the kind of man he is. Sweeping forward, tendrils coiling outwards to reach and cover more than just a hand, the darkness snakes up Killian Jones' arm. Swallowing him up in it's embrace, the darkness consumes, eating up the man's screams as it sets to work on fitting inside.

The darkness worms it's way into every hidden part of Killian Jones' insides. Spreading it's awareness, taking over every vital function. It closes a fist around the man's heart, laughs at the frantic pulse of it, then swallows it too. Killian Jones screams in reaction, his knees thumping painfully against the floor following his downwards collapse. The clatter of metal on the floor makes the darkness whip it's head around, it's stolen eyes searching for the source of that sound.

It sees the dagger on the floor, reacts in an instant, making a grab for it. But Killian Jones in his moment of despair and pain, is stronger than the darkness had ever anticipated. He resists the darkness' command, instead bringing a hand up to grab at his chest. The darkness snarls, tears up the vessels from the inside, making the man scream louder. The darkness screams too, all that fury and rage made worse when the dagger is snatched off of the floor, by a pale, feminine hand.

Blood red finger nails caress the dagger almost lovingly. The darkness reacts, it's stolen body jerky in it's movements as Killian Jones staggers to his feet. The man and the darkness are in agreement this one moment, both glaring in their shared body as they look at the woman who handles the dagger.

"Oh, Hook..." tsks the woman who has her shoulder length hair done up in an elaborate bun. "No, no, this won't do. I won't have you looking at me in that way."

"Cora..." Killian Jones practically spits out the name. "You bitch."

Her eyes flash in warning, the darkness bracing itself for the slash of power she sends their way. The vessel falls to the floor, but his torn cheek is already healing.

"Is that anyway to speak to your queen and master?!" Cora demands, magic crackling around her right hand. The darkness takes note, understanding that this woman is formidable, even without the dagger in her control.

"You tricked me!" The darkness hears it's vessel say.

"You tricked yourself." Cora retorts. "Honestly Hook. You didn't really think you could use the dagger on Rumplestiltskin and not pay a price." She pauses, and looks at the vessel. "Oh...oh dear..." A stunned breath from her, and then she laughs. "You did. How stupidly naive of you."

The darkness feels the man grimace, the anger not yet turning in on himself. Killain Jones is focusing his rage outwards, focusing his fury on the woman, snarling at her for her betrayals. "You wanted this to happen." He accuses, and Cora nods. "From the moment I read that map, you were counting on me being the one to find and use that dagger."

"Oh, I was counting on it a lot sooner than that." Cora told him. "After all it's not as if I could let myself or my daughter become the new vessel for the Dark One."

"The vessel..." Killian Jones frowns, still not understanding. He doesn't completely realize what he's done, what's he become, that his body is now nothing more than a host to the darkness within. The darkness keeps quiet for now, it's attention more for the woman and the dagger she holds than any confusion the man is dealing with.

"No...it's far better to be the master of the darkness, then slave to it." Cora continued. "Though I'm not at all sorry to tell you, you don't have the luxury of that choice any more." She stepped closer to the man, actually touches the tip of the dagger to his bottom lip. "You know what this is, what it's capable of doing..."

The darkness lunges, trying for the dagger. Cora immediately pulled back, her mocking laugh accompanying her movements. "Ah ah ah. You really didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

The darkness feels Killian Jones confusion, the man actually stammering as he spoke. "My...my body...it moved on it's own..."

"There's going to be a lot of that, I suspect. After all, Rumplestiltskin you are not. But no matter. Hook, or should I say the Dark One, you WILL do my bidding."

"I will not!" Killain Jones shouts. That elegant hand is backed with magic, as the woman slaps Killian Jones across the face with it.

"No one refuses me." She snapped. "Not the Dark One, and certainly not some pathetic pirate. And now...Hook...you're going to get up off that floor, march out of this shop, and help my daughter deal with our enemies."

"No." Killian Jones spat. "I won't."

"Dark One I command you!" The woman's snarl was accompanied by the backlash of magic, far stronger then hers. The darkness felt the chains take hold, the leash collar him, binding him to the will and wishes of the one who held the dagger. The darkness roared, eyes narrowed at Cora, wanting and waiting for it's chance. Vowing that one day this witch would find her slender neck snapped in two by the darkness' own hands. But for now it heeded it's slaver's call, staggering upright, the body still not acclimatized completely to it's new dual inhabitance.

Killian Jones fought, a dim witted understanding dawning inside him. He wasn't alone in his body, some malignant and alien force controlling his actions. Making him walk to the front of the shop, the darkness not allowing him to so much as flinch in reaction to the bolt of magic that suddenly blew apart the window's glass.

The glass crunched underfoot, sound seeming magnified. Over it, the darkness heard the shouts, saw the colors of more magic in the air. The otherworldly bolts of energy zig zagged about, their deflection causing damage to the surrounding buildings. Explosions followed their landing, the magic chaotic and violent, ripping things apart.

It was just the kind of chaos and strife the darkness reveled in. The kind of violent nightmare the Dark One was capable of making all too real. Even as it resented the orders given to it by the woman Cora, the darkness found it's appetite wetted, something very much like excitement coiling within it at the chance to do some real damage.

Ripping the door free of the shop, the darkness preceded Cora in stepping outside. A bolt of magic raced passed it's face, the darkness turning. It was promptly dazzled, an unexpected light blazing bright across the street. It wasn't a light from the windows, wasn't a light from the street lamps. The sky was dark and overcast with clouds, the light shining as bright if not brighter than the sun that was hidden.

The darkness forgot how to breathe, staring at the light. Strong as it was bright, it was a white beacon of purity, of magic most holy. It was like nothing the darkness had ever seen, the power and warmth of that untainted light something never before encountered, not even in all the long years that the Dark One had existed.

The light was something different and wholly unique, the darkness ignored the fighting around it. Staring transfixed at the light, nearly blinded by it. Wanting the light, yet fearing it's touch, the darkness hadn't yet noticed the other oddity about the dazzling power. The person within the light, the power radiating not so much from her body, but from her soul.

The pain crashing into the darkness from behind, broke the enchantment. The darkness roared, the woman Cora behind it. She was screaming at the Dark One, ordering it to do as she commanded. Resentment curled inside the darkness, the Dark One snarling. Held back by an invisible force, it glared at the one who had enslaved it.

"Destroy them!" Cora was saying. "Destroy them all!"

The darkness tensed, it's magic gathering. Those marked for death would suffer a dozen times worse then needed, the darkness making them pay in ways it could not yet do to Cora. It called upon the most twisted of it's arsenal, magic to make the flesh peel from ones bones, to make one hold and crush their own heart in their hands, even magic to cause one to drown in their own filthy fluids. The darkness planned to unleash all that and more, prepared to fling out the spells, and instead found it's arms frozen.

"What are you waiting for?!" Cora screamed in demand. "I said to destroy them!"

The darkness tried again, and not so much as a finger moved. It felt sweat bead on the sides of it's face, felt the sheer determination of the vessel as the man called on all his reserves to hold the darkness at bay. The darkness snarled in frustration, scrapped claws over Killian Jones from the inside of his body. A grunt was his reward, Killian Jones biting down on his lip hard enough to bleed.

With the coppery metallic taste of blood on it's tongue, the darkness heard Killian Jones scream. "While you still can, run!"

There was a frozen moment of inaction, the only real movement and sound from the flames eating at the damaged buildings. It was over quicker than the blink of an eye, shouts accompanying the action. Loudest of all was the woman Cora. She practically screeched in fury, the death and destruction she wished for being denied to her not by the darkness, but by the will of the pirate alone.

"What are you doing?!" Cora screamed, vicious in her anger, as her magic slapped Killian Jones in the face. The man grunted in response, his force of will slipping. Not by much, and certainly not enough for the darkness to regain control. The darkness paced inside Killain Jones' body, trying to practice a patience it didn't at all feel.

"Mother, they're getting away!" Another voice spoke, angry and female.

"They won't for long, my daughter." Cora promised, her voice still so full of anger. "The Dark One will see to that!"

When Killian Jones opened his mouth to make some biting retort, it was not his voice that emerged, but that of the darkness. At it's furious roar, even Cora looks frightened, taking a step back for her own safety. The darkness barely pays her any mind, having noticed what the others have not. That the light, ever bright and pure, was moving. Was running away from this place, from the chaos and the fighting, from the darkness itself.

Snarling in protest, the darkness tried to chase after the light. It came up against the flimsy, weakening will of one Killian Jones, the man groaning in pain. The darkness screamed, began pounding on the barrier that separated it and Killian Jones' conflicting desires. It hammered fists of steel into it and Killian, scraped and clawed hard enough to bleed the body, bit down on mouthfuls of tender flesh. Killain Jones a weak willed man by nature, would fall under the onslaught, the darkness filling his eyes.

Where Killian Jones fell, the darkness rose. The sense of urgency it felt, had nothing to do with the commands given to it by Cora. It ignored the pain her magic and the dagger would inflict on it, the darkness resisting the murderous compulsions of it's slaver.

Instead, with the backlash of magic most painful coursing through it, the darkness turned to track the bobbing path of the light. It had already traveled far, reduced to a mere glittering speck in the distance. So small as to be imagined, the darkness still moved, intent on following after it, on getting close to it. Wanting to touch the light, to be near it, to study it, to possess it.

Wanting to hoard that gleaming brightness for it's very own, the darkness moved. A false night went with it, inky blackness eating away at the surroundings, casting Storybrooke into a darkness that might prove eternal.

To Be Continued...

Have to stay I'm not happy with this start at all. I might come back and tinker with it...or maybe I'll decide in a few days it's fine as it is...but for now I feel very frustrated by this. Want to thank my friend, xearthfaex, for reading over a huge chunk of the work in progress, and trying to reassure me this isn't sucking. Thanks hon! *Hugs*

I dunno...my dissatisfaction is showing, to the point I can't think much of to ramble on about. Maybe that's a good thing...no long winded author's note...X_X

And for those wondering, the actual sequel fic did get started but I only have 6 KB written so far. Sorry about making ya'll wait for THAT one...

-Michelle


	2. Chapter 2

The darkness ate away at everything, stripping the colors and the joy from the land. Twisting the landscape into a cold, bleak world of grays and browns. The lights from the houses it passed were blown out, glass a constant shower as street lamps imploded. The people caught out on the streets ran, their instincts awakened by a self preservation that was ancient. A self preservation that remembered the darkness, and what it had once been capable of.

The darkness is ancient, a being brought into life when the very first man felt his first flicker of fear. The darkness is everything, every wild and twisted impulse, every frightened thought and malicious desire. The darkness is greed, is anger, is hate, is lust, is motive and revenge and every other wicked impulse that man has ever had and made a million times worse because the Dark One has been around just short of forever.

The darkness is man's evil incarnate, a sleek, finely honed predator that lurks in the night. And this is the night, after three hundred years of confinement have passed, that the darkness has been set free. With a deep gnawing hunger for life, the darkness finds it is ravenous. Wanting to consume all in it's path, the darkness is relentless, it's evil held back only because it is distracted. By the light, ever gleaming, ever beckoning, calling to the darkness with it's wholly unique and untainted purity.

The darkness stalks the light, runs after it so hard it swears it feels it's vessel panting for air. The darkness doesn't slow, feeling a desperation it is not at all used to, and doesn't at all like. A desperation that tells it that to slow now would result in it's losing the light for forever. And that is something the darkness doesn't want, is something it actually finds intolerable the thought of. And so it runs, knowing that the bright, elusive light can only avoid the darkness for so long. Watching as it grows from a glittering speck in the distance, to something larger, fist sized, and then even bigger until the darkness is upon it, reaching for it.

For one all too brief second, they touch. The Dark One actually gasps, finding the light is everything the darkness is not. Warm and soft to the touch, the light is brilliant and shining and the darkness wants to wrap around it, pull it close and never let it go. It wants to cover the light, take that warmth for it's own. It wants to hide the light from prying eyes, lock it in shadows where only the darkness may see. It wants to extinguish it from the world, bury it deep in the night, where not even whispers can reach.

And then the light is burning brighter, almost blinding in it's brilliance. Pain spikes in the vessel, something sharp slashing open the man's chest. The darkness is stunned, feels not one, but two swords, each stabbing into a different part of the vessel. The darkness screams, lashes out with it's arms. The light is sent away flying, and the darkness follows once more. It is waiting as the light hits the ground, hand reaching for it, ignoring the arrows that slam into it's back.

The pain is nothing to the darkness, should be nothing more than a nuisance to the vessel it inhabits. But deep inside, the pain reaches to the corner where Killian Jones lays, battered by and tossed aside by the darkness. So weak at first, the darkness doesn't take note of Killian Jones raising his head. Doesn't care to investigate the new found tension within the vessel. It ignores the warning signs, stays focused on the light, and this time it is no gentle touch that is shared.

The light lashes out, twisting and turning in the darkness' grasp. Fighting every step of the way, trying to halt the darkness' progression, and trying to get away. The first real irritation flares at the light's open defiance, the darkness becoming violent. Slapping back, then grabbing at the light, closing fingers around a slender neck, it pulls the light closer. Actually growls into the face of it.

The light continues it's struggles, nails digging into the darkness' arm. Immediate is the retaliation, the darkness squeezing. It hears a sound, a voice choking on it's own breath, and the light starts to flicker in an alarming way. Almost as if it will go out, as if the light will just give up and die.

Not understanding, the darkness shakes the light. The light flickers again, then goes dim. The darkness sees what it hadn't before, sees the woman who is the source of that beautiful light. It sees the savior, Storybrooke's very own hero, but most of all it sees the woman Killian Jones has come to admire.

The darkness is confused, feels a horror that is not it's own, bubbling up inside it. Killian Jones is rising up from within, attempting to retake the vessel, to gain control over it and the darkness. For one uncertain moment, the darkness doesn't fight, just stand back and lets the pirate have his way.

The hand around the woman's neck starts to relax, and her reaction is immediate. A great gasping breath is taken, her eyes snapping open. The darkness sees her bright blue eyes, sees in them the fierce will and strong determination, a moment before her inner light is restored.

Killian Jones looks right into the brilliance, and sees not the light, but the woman. The darkness sees what Killian Jones sees, the soft skin, the sensual features, the long, golden hair that is a fitting match to the light that shines from within her. The woman is beautiful both outside and in, appealing to both the darkness and the pirate but fit for neither one. But where the darkness is selfish, the pirate tries in this one instant to be something more.

Speaking in a voice that cracks as though from a great deal of disuse, Killian Jones urges the light to run. The darkness inside him recoils, lashes out with a snarl. The vessel's body bends, seeming as though the darkness will claw it's way out of it's very skin, the pain it inflicts immense and not stopping the man from his worry.

"For God's sake Emma, run!"

The woman that is both the light and yet wholly human, takes an uncertain step back. And then another, and another, putting distance between them, but not actually running. The darkness feels Killian Jones' frustration at the woman's defiance. The stark fear, and the open anger, and the darkness feeds off of both, is empowered by the negative energy Killian Jones' emotions give off.

Killian Jones doesn't realize his mistake in time, the darkness surging forward effortlessly. Knocking him aside, actually taking control of the vessel, and grabbing for the woman. It hisses in her face, watches that inner light of hers flicker under it's choking grip. It's fascinated by the power it has over her, by the control it has over the light. Flaring bright one moment, then flickering dimly, the darkness knows it could extinguish the light completely. And all it would take is one crushing squeeze of it's hand.

The darkness hesitates, playing with the light. Staring at the woman, at the struggle in her eyes. A fire burns there, determined but weakening as the darkness cuts off her air. The darkness is fascinated anew, not knowing many if any humans that could look their death in the face, and not feel anything but fear.

Intrigued, it presses against her. Actually brings it's lips to growl against hers. "You should have run." And it's both the Dark One and Killian who speak as one, the man struggling, trying to climb his way out of the darkness around him.

The flickering light suddenly flares bright with the woman's defiance. "Go to hell!" She spits against his mouth, and pain hits the vessel right between it's thighs.

More bemused than anything, the darkness allows Killian Jones to feel the pain that the light has inflicted. He screams inside the vessel, and the darkness laughs. It is an awful sound, like bone crunching under tires. Even the light can't not be affected by such a sound, the woman shivering in the darkness' grasp. A grasp that tightens once more, the darkness reveling in the power it has over the light.

A life and death decision plays out, the woman reaching out with a hand to ward off the coming darkness. That unexpected touch against the vessel's skin, makes the darkness hiss in surprise. It feels her warmth, feels the goodness inside her, that untapped power that could one day be brilliant enough to destroy even the dark. So much potential and it's not enough, the darkness knowing how easy it would be to put an end to the threat the light might one day become.

Killian Jones has felt the woman's touch also, and his is a wholly different reaction than that of the darkness. Instead of noting the power and potential the woman has inside her, Killian Jones reacts in a more primal way. Longing fills him, and it's not all to do with the desire that she get away. Killian Jones WANTS this woman, wants her hands on him. The darkness takes note of this, for it too understands wants and desires, even if it's all twisted inside.

And it is twisted, Killian Jones wanting her but also afraid. For her and of her, for the desires she rouses, for the feeling of hope she gives him. The private thoughts of Killian Jones are an open book for the darkness to read, it turns the pages, and finds the secret hopes and fears of the pirate. Killian Jones thinks this woman could be the one to heal him, make him forget his hurt and his pain, and that leaves him terrified.

Fighting against everything the woman makes him feel, especially now that the darkness stands between them, Killian Jones can't stop his interest from showing as the woman's hand continues to push at his chest. The darkness feeding off of Killian Jones, feels it too, actually pulls it to the forefront of it's expression. The woman notices, and thinks it's the man she's dealing with, and not the Dark One.

A crafty, calculating gleam births in her eyes, the woman no longer fighting so hard to get away. The pressure of her hand changes, becomes something different. Soft and caressing, instead of that hard, unyielding pressure of violence, the woman is touching the darkness. Stroking fingers down it's body, leaving trails of warmth that light a rising heat from within. The breath the darkness lets out, is a sharp hiss of sound, the creature confused but wanting more. Staring at the woman, seeing the shaky breath she takes, a moment before she smiles.

Stunned, the darkness can only stand there, as she places both hands on it's body. The vessel actually trembles, it's skin quivering in reaction to the caressing motion of the woman's hands. The darkness no stranger to violent lust, finds itself shaking with it, with urges that are both it's own and that of Killian Jones.

Tensing with the need to act on those urges, the darkness is nearly brought to it's knees at the touch of the woman's hand on it's cock. Already lusting so strongly, it nearly explodes from the feel, from the exquisite pressure of the woman's soft hand squeezing around it. The darkness so close to being undone, doesn't resist when Killian Jones steps forward to take control from it. Can only mewl in soft pleasure, as mouths clash together, lips hungry and devouring, smothering gasps, and leaving all three panting.

The woman, with the light shining in her eyes, breathes out an invitation. Bites down on the vessel's bottom lip. Killian Jones shudders in reaction, a name being offered up to the air. "Emma..."

The darkness takes note, whispers the name to itself. Coiling around even that, it acts where the vessel would hesitate, seizing the woman, and her invitation, letting the shadows consume them. Swallowed up in darkness, the three finds themselves spit out elsewhere in Storybrooke, a room stolen from Killian Jones' memory, a place that is both private and safe. Perfect for the darkness, for what it wants to do, for what it was offered, for what it intends to take. It presses the woman Emma against the nearest hard surface, actually traps her with it's body. The darkness lets her feel every hard inch of it's body, makes her aware of the strength and the power that lay tense under it's stretched skin. Most of all the darkness makes her nervous, the woman Emma noticeably swallowing back an involuntary gasp.

It stares at her with the face of Killian Jones, it's attention unwavering. Seeing the wide eyed look she gives him, the way Emma bites at her bottom lip. It can tell she's not entirely sure, that the woman doesn't know if it's the man or the monster she is dealing with. The darkness licks it's lips, and notices the way her bright colored gaze dips down to follow that brief movement. It is too much, the darkness seizing a handful of her hair. That tight fisting grip is one of control, and the darkness uses it to hold her steady.

The kiss is all tongue and heat, the urgent bruising pressure of a mouth that is hungry, starving for this contact. The darkness consumes, swallows up the mewling sounds the woman is making, forgets that she is still human and needs a chance to breathe. It feels her desperate struggles, feels her squirm her soft pleasing body against it's own. Most of all it notes her hands, the way they try to push back the immoveable force that is the darkness intent on it's prize.

Emma sways, actually sags against the grip it has on her hair. Just this once, the darkness relents, allowing her the illusion that she has pushed back the Dark One. The woman's chest heaves with her panting breaths, and she leans against the hard surface of what might be a desk. Her eyes remain on the darkness, the smallest of smiles offered up to appease it.

"Easy there pirate." Emma says in breathless entreaty. "Got to give a girl room to breathe." Her hand on the vessel's chest, plays fingers against it's skin, finds and tweaks a nipple and it is as though she is still holding a squeezing grip on the darkness' cock. The darkness trembles as it's desire grow even stronger, the lightest touches of this woman sending the fiercest pangs of want coursing through it. Suddenly it feels as if the darkness is the one that can't breathe, staggered back by the light, by the maddening way it's bearer toys with him. The darkness uncertain for the first time in it's ancient and storied existence, falters, and it is Killian Jones who now benefits from Emma's touch.

"Emma..." KIllian Jones is struggling with himself, trying to do the right thing. The pirate knows he should push Emma away, force her to listen to him this time, and make her run. But she feels so good next to him, with her body fitted against his. The pirate lies to himself that it will only be for a second, that there is no harm in delaying just a little bit more. Killian Jones tells himself it will be okay, that SHE WIll be okay, all the while knowing it's a lie, that he's blinding himself to the danger, and then Emma is KISSING him. And it feels too good to stop.

The darkness holds back, watching from the shadows. It's not exactly hiding, but a part of it is afraid. Confused by the light, by the woman, by the intensity of it's desires, it doesn't want or need Killian Jones' own complex feelings distorting things further. But a line is blurring, both man and darkness wanting to posses the woman in ways that are both different from each other yet exactly the same.

The woman isn't helping things, a fierce being of passions and need. Burning with a bright intensity that even Killian Jones can see. The darkness in it's corner, feels the man's rising hunger, feels how he lets it distract him from what needs to be done. The darkness keeps quiet, holds absolutely still, not wanting to remind the vessel of it's lurking presence.

It works, the man losing himself to the moment, freeing his inhibitions with a growl. With strength he doesn't notice is inhuman, he splits the woman's red leather jacket in two, the ruined halves being shucked off her body. Her shirt follows the jacket, her tanned skin gleaming golden against the black contrast of her lace bra.

The darkness' mouth waters, the pirate caressing over all that smooth expanse of skin. Making the woman lean back, a sweet sigh escaping her, as Killian Jones worships at her flesh. At the way work rough fingers caress over her abdomen, the way her belly quivers in response to his hand drawing circles into her skin. Another sweet sound escapes her, Killian Jones pressing an open mouth kiss on one of Emma's bare shoulders. Her arms raise, her fingers sinking into the pirate's hair, and the darkness wants to purr like a cat being stroked.

One taste of her skin, and the pirate can't control himself. He's kissing and licking, nibbling a path from shoulder to collar. Marring that golden skin's perfection with imprints of his teeth, Killian Jones laves affection on the woman, nipping at her throat, while his hand cups her right breast and gives it a small squeeze.

A moan is issued out of Emma, her head falling back, throat offered up to Killian Jones' lips. She continues fingering his hair, actually stroking encouragement to him, and her fingers go into a frenzy when his thumb presses down on her breast's stiffening nipple. That tiny pebbled flesh, seems instrumental in stoking the fire within her, Emma crying out at the pirate's determined caress. His thumb moves in circles, presses down then releases it, only to the repeat the circular caress.

Emma is actually whining in need by the time Killian Jones kisses down to her breasts. Actively trying to push herself against his lips. Gasping, then crying out, the bra lost to the man's hook, as his mouth greedily covers the nipple that he has been teasing. Killian Jones and the darkness moan together, the Dark One inching closer to the light. Tasting Emma with it's own superior senses, learning her reactions, responding to the sweet sound of her voice.

A wild thing as both the darkness and the pirate are discovering, Emma is aloft with pleasure, squirming in place long before she's ever even touched between her legs. The vessel's mouth against her throat, the rest of Emma's clothing is shucked away. She positively sings as it's fingers stroke and caress her, spreading the wetness that continues to gather around her, slipping inside her and making her bounce back against the vessel's hand.

Emma clings to the darkness, to it and the pirate, and in this moment she doesn't care whose hand she is grinding against. She merely feels, giving in to the experience, wriggling her hips and bucking back, trying to take the fingers in deeper. Her own fingers digs into the vessel's shoulders, the darkness intent on her expression, on the raw sexuality she exudes. Watching as her mouth forms a perfect o, her body shuddering as wave after wave of pulse pounding pleasure hits, the darkness can wait no more.

Swallowing up her cries with it's mouth, it's clothing nothing more than an impediment it's magic destroys, the darkness surges forward. Thrusts it's throbbing cock into the woman, hearing her sharp cry as Emma's aroused flesh welcomes the penetration. The darkness sinks into her heat, feels the wet flesh coil around it, and it feels happy.

And then the urgency hits, the darkness needing to move. To push more of it inside her, shifting it's hips forward, making Emma squeal. Her legs lift, and her ankles cross behind it, Emma clawing at it's back. This pain the darkness understands, responds to with a mighty heave of it's hips. The woman rocks back, actually bumps into the desk behind her, and the darkness continues. Bending them both over the desk, noting how Emma refuses to relinquish her arms' grip, the darkness moves, generating sweet, satisfying friction inside her.

In this moment, it is not just Emma Swan and Killian Jones, not merely a man and a woman, who have joined together. It is the darkness and the light, two being who couldn't be more different, who shouldn't be wrapped together. The light is too pure, the darkness too greedy. One will consume the other, the darkness too quick to hurt and destroy. Especially a fleeting existence like the light, it's brilliance easily snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

The darkness doesn't care, too selfish, too grasping. It has touched the light that is Emma Swan, and it wants more. And sees no reason why it can't have it, everything and her all.

To Be Continued...

OMG, you guys! I seriously didn't expect to have chapter two written this fast. But then you all starting reviewing, and several of you used the magic word. INTENSE! *flails in excitement* I was feeling really depressed, I could literally feel my mood dropping last night. I was so distressed that I had failed with the chapter. I had feared I was sacrificing the feeling of it, to set up the situation and establish Hook and the darkness as two separate personalities, beings. I wanted the chapter to feel intense, and I so feared it wasn't. And then that word kept coming up in the reviews, and it just made my day!

So your reward is this chapter sooner than ever anticipated! *parties* It was a weird experience to write...like easier than the first chapter, but still hard at the same time.

This chapter, events go down almost the same, (To the light grasping darkness fic) but not quite. I wanted Hook and Emma to have a moment, but it didn't work out. Not with the darkness so present. *hangs head.*

So yeah...easier to write, but not without a whole different bag of difficulties. I want next chapter to be a Emma POV...and it will veer off from how the events played out in the other fic. I don't want to spoil, but um...that's when things are set to start getting darker...

And yes there will be Hook POVs too...maybe for fourth chapter, maybe not. Depends on how much of the events I can get into three...right now debating where exactly to start it, to set the scene...

One Tree Fan suggested a title I really liked. Beyond Here Lies Nothing. Only it sorta feels like it implies there is no hope left? So I'm twisting it slightly, to maybe make the title be Beyond Here Lies Darkness...

-Michelle

OneTreeFan, thank you! What you said was very appreciated, and immensely helpful not just with perhaps having a title, but in cheering me up. Intense, my word of the day,it thrills me to no end that you and a few others felt it was that way! :D

Zerousy, thanks! :D And don't worry,we'll get a Killian POV...sooner or later. The darkness is just being a spotlight hog. XD Thanks again, I'll keep chapter one as it is. since it hit the feeling I was going for with the readers! :D

Angelfan984, thank you so much! I'm glad you decided to give it a try, and hope I don't scare you off too badly...*nervous about the reactions...like really nervous to the point of being a big chicken.*

Tucklil, thank you, I will! :)

XoXPhoenix10, thanks for the title suggestion. Originally I had toyed with naming this fic light consuming darkness, so you hit pretty close to that with one of your suggestions.

Guest, I did...but I can't promise to be quick with the updates. It's a tougher fic to get right...X_X


	3. Chapter 3

The room is in shambles, furniture knocked on it's side, even broken in the case of the desk. Stacks of paper have spilled everywhere, and a map has been torn down from it's spot on the paneled wall. A chest is overturned, it's trinkets and treasures spit out when the lid had snapped open. Emma can't even remember how half of these things had happened, the many moments blurring together, making it impossible to know up from down, let alone when and how.

The one thing Emma Swan is certain of is at some point they have ended up on the bed. With it's crimson and black sheets, which have been rumpled and kicked aside, the bed groans under their weight. Creaks constantly with their movements. The bed handles the strain better than the desk, though the same can't be said for the woman herself.

Emma Swan is tired, her body pushed to it's limits. Stimulated beyond belief, her body struggles to match the pace that has been set. But the god like endurance of the man beneath her, is not something a human can match. Not even the woman who has the power of the savior glowing inside her.

Emma doesn't know that she is burning brighter with every passing moment. That she glows from the inside out, that brilliant light complimenting the sheen of her skin, the golden gleam of her hair, and even the bright blue of her eyes. That otherworldly light is inching closer to being blown out, blazing hotter in it's final moments.

Emma doesn't know that, and the darkness doesn't seem to care. Too lost in it's love affair with the light that is Emma Swan. Selfish creature that it is, will it even be sorry once it realizes what it's done? Will it show an ounce of remorse, or will it turn furious, like a petulant child denied it's favorite toy?

Emma Swan knows things have gotten out of hand, that she's lost what little control she has tried for. Her poor attempts at manipulating the darkness haven't gained her much of anything, beyond muscles that are sore. The darkness seems inexhaustible, always hungering for more. Wanting what Emma can no longer give it, the darkness doesn't understand the concept of no.

Emma's left wondering when this had ever seemed like a good idea. She's forgotten her reasons, the desperation that drove her. She cant even remember the faces of her loved ones, can only see the darkness before her, the monster that gazes back at her with eyes it has stolen.

It hurts to see those ocean blue eyes swallowed up by the darkness. To watch those sensual lips curve up in a smile that is NOT his. Emma doesn't even know if anything of Captain Hook remains, if Killian Jones hasn't already been destroyed by the darkness. Pain twists in her gut, Emma already missing Hook.

The darkness raises it's hand, actually takes the time to cup Emma's cheek. It strokes over the tear that has fallen, brings that single glinting droplet to it's lips. It finds even that sweet, and suddenly, viciously jerks on Emma's hair. The resulting watering of her eyes, the cry of pain Emma lets out, pleases the darkness.

Her vision blurring, Emma feels unbalanced. She clings to the darkness, not because she wants to, but because it is the only way to keep from falling. The swaying of her body, is at odds with the way the darkness makes her bounce on it's lap. The room is spinning, faster and faster, and Emma can't get enough air to breathe. Spots start exploding before her, and it's not a scream but a whimper that precedes her complete collapse.

Emma is surprised when she wakes up. Surprised that she's not dead. She's not entirely sure what has happened, how much time has passed, or even where exactly she is. But there is a weight across her breasts, a body pressed into her side. A soft rumble of sound is in her ear, a warm breath teasing against her skin.

It is the darkness, still taking up space inside Hook's body. Unbelievable, but it has fallen asleep, it's arm across her breasts, cradling Emma close in a grip that will turn possessive if given the slightest chance.

Emma doesn't immediately try to get out of the bed. She simply hurts in ways no person was ever meant to feel. Her muscles are sore, spots of her positively aching with overuse, Emma knows how it will hurt to stand. She lays back in the deceiving comfort that the bed and it's pillows offer, tempted to believe it will all be all right, that she can afford to waste just a few minutes more of time.

But time waits for no one, and every second passed is a second wasted. Emma holds in her sigh, tries to gather her strength. Moves with a cat like grace, as she shifts carefully out from under the arm. A snort from the body besides her, Emma first freezing then slipping a pillow under the arm. Immediately the pillow is pulled, crushed against the darkness' chest.

Shaking, Emma inches the rest of the way off the bed. Nearly cries out as her legs wobble, so daringly close to giving out. It is her sheer strength of will, that desperate determination that forces Emma to remain upright, that allows her to take one painful step forward. It doesn't get easier the more she moves, Emma hurt in a way that requires more rest.

But she keeps going, fearing this will be her only chance. She pads naked across the floor, keeps a hand on the wall though that doesn't help much against the room's swaying. Something rolls past her bare toes, the sound of it making her freeze. A paranoid look at the bed, where Hook-the darkness, still grips the pillow, allows Emma to breathe a little better. She resumes her trek forward, feet shuffling against the floor, Emma not quite able to walk right.

Emma wouldn't have tried to look for her clothes, even if they hadn't been ruined earlier. Ripped and tossed, the remains of her clothing are lost amongst the room's mess. But a shirt is found, black silk that's hem falls down past her knees. It is the only thing she takes, her one concession to her modesty's needs.

Emma is not yet to the point where she is willing to cast aside all shame. Not desperate enough to run naked from the darkness, she can only pray the time spent on obtaining the shirt won't ultimately cost her.

Emma doesn't have much of a plan, when she takes her first painful steps onto the deck of the Jolly Roger. Doesn't know much of anything except that she has to get away. And with the pain that she is feeling, her legs won't be able to carry her far. She needs to ride, and can only be thankful the harbor isn't far from the town's main street, Emma holding a vague recollection that her beloved yellow car is parked directly across from Gold's shop.

Emma's not worrying about the chance her car might have been caught in the crossfire of the fighting that had taken place on the main street. Nor is she particularly concerned with the fact she's missing her car keys. Emma doesn't care that she lacks the tools needed to break into and hot wire her own car, the woman simply too focused on reaching the car. It's one thing at a time for Emma, the only real way she can keep herself from getting hysterical.

It's simply been too much for Emma, and even the savior can't be strong all the time. Not with her legs shaking, aching muscles actually hurting, Emma exhausted and running on empty. It's not just her body that suffers, her mind is conflicted, emotions twisted up and confused. It's too hard to focus, and what she does think about only upsets her.

Especially because Emma is sure she is forgetting something important. But it's hard to know what, to remember anything else but the darkness. To remember the sex, which has started out pretty fucking amazing, only to go horrible wrong as Hook was swallowed up by the darkness from within. What Emma wouldn't give to have Hook back, to see him, HIM, smirking at her and making lewd insinuations about the situation they had found themselves in.

In the moment, Emma doesn't care that it's all Hook's fault, the situation she finds herself in. She just wants the pirate back, wants the relative safety and normalcy he would bring. But he's gone, and might never be coming back, and things aren't normal or safe, or even sane. For even in Emma's preoccupied state, she has noticed the strangeness. The empty streets, and the fact that it is darker than midnight during what should be the blazing brightness of a summer day.

The false night scares her, makes her think of the darkness. Every sound Emma hears, has her tensing in fear, each skitter and crash convincing her the pursuit is drawing near. It's far too huge a relief, when she spies the bright yellow color of her beloved car. She nearly collapses in place, but somehow finds the strength to keep moving, rather than wilt in relief.

She stumbles the rest of the way, falls against the passenger side, and still manages a shaky laugh. The dents on the side are small, the car otherwise undamaged. Emma is more than relieved, she is counting her blessings, even as she scouts about for a rock of some sort, to use to smash open the window.

And then the unnatural bellow is heard, voicing an otherworldly anger that makes Emma's skin crawl. She knows in her heart what has made that sound, actually panics, and brings her bare fist to plant against the window's glass. It doesn't break on the first impact. Emma has to punch the car window several more times, actually sliced up her hand with the glass, before it shatters.

But it's just more pain to the hurt she already feels, Emma ignoring the blood, and opening the door. Readying herself to outrace the darkness, Emma is roughly hauled back before she can climb into the car.

Screaming, Emma lashes out with her arms. Strikes out with the fist that isn't torn up and bleeding, and gets shaken for her efforts. An inhumane growl follows those actions, Hook's voice never meant to distort in such a way. But it's not Hook she's dealing with, though the darkness still wears that wickedly handsome face, making it's lips snarl and it's eyes bleed of all color and it's STILL him but not, and Emma wants to cry.

She screams instead, continuing to lash out, her arms a fury of violent motion. Beating her fist against whatever is in reach, a chest, a face, the side of his head. Being shaken like a rag doll, then grabbed by the throat, the darkness slams Emma into the side of her car. It gets right in her face, moves it's lips against her as it hisses and speaks.

"You shouldn't have run."

Emma chokes on her own hysterical laughter. The words are too similar, Emma remembering when Hook had all but begged her to run. She hadn't then, and now she wasn't able, her legs shaking, and in no way able to support her any longer.

That halting laughter, it doesn't actually confuse the darkness so much as annoy it. It's eyes narrow, and Emma knows she's about to be hurt worse, and she can't stop laughing. Even as it tightens it's fingers around her throat, Emma can't stop, choking, gasping, and she doesn't know why she finds this so funny when it's about to get her killed or worse.

"You shouldn't have run." The darkness repeats, and the malevolent look it gives her, makes Emma swear that her blood has turned cold. "And you won't."

"Won't I?" Emma is not sure where that suicidal defiance comes from, but she fears what it will result in. She swears an impatient look covers the darkness' face, and Emma knows what could appease it. But she's in no way ready for THAT, and Emma can't seem to think straight for any other option to make itself known.

"You won't." The darkness scowls. "Say it! Say that you won't!"

She doesn't say it and mean it, and yet at Emma's soft utterance, the darkness seems to lose some of it's anger. Some but not all of it, it's grip still on her throat, holding Emma up on tip toe as it pins her against the car.

"Say it again." The darkness orders. "Say that you won't ever try to leave me."

The words tumble out of Emma's mouth, her voice echoing from a distance in her ears. The tension doesn't quite leave the darkness, though the grip on her throat is relaxing bit by bit. The darkness is not quite smiling, still looking for something from Emma. It's as though it NEEDS the reassurance, as though Emma is a favorite pet that has gone and done something unexpected, something unwanted. Something that has upset the precious balance of everything the darkness had thought it had ever known about her.

"I won't leave you..." It hurts to say that, the words falling like lead from Emma's mouth. "I promise." It is a lie, but it is one the darkness wants to hear. A lie it believes all the stronger, when Emma forces a weak smile, and nerves herself to place her hand on it's face.

That unblinking stare doesn't actually soften, but the darkness seems pleased all the same. It actually nuzzles her hand, like it's forgiving Emma for what she had done, for what she had tried to do. Emma keeps that fake smile plastered on her face, but inside she is screaming and most of all plotting. Determined to do exactly what she had just promised not to, Emma waits only because now is not the right time.

Not knowing when, or if the opportunity will present itself, Emma can only pray. And hope, and wish, and dream for a better future. Because her present is bleak, surreal and downright dangerous, the darkness still pressed against her, and looking like it wants to eat her up all over again.

She immediately tries to drop her hand, but the darkness is catching at it, pressing her fingers to it's lips. First kissing, then sucking on the tips, the darkness maintains it's stare. Emma's expression has frozen, her stomach twisting into knots. Emma wants to believe the darkness doesn't intend anything more by these actions, but her gut instincts screams that it does.

Especially when it's using Hook's mouth to slicken and tease her fingers, treating them like they are a tasty treat. She's not sure what to do, how to get her hand free without setting the darkness off. Emma doesn't have to fake the weakness of her body, as she leans into the car at her back. The darkness purrs, and with a resounding pop of sound, lets go of her fingers.

And then HIS fingers are touching HER mouth, the darkness brushing a thumb over Emma's bottom lip before sliding it and two more digits passed. Emma makes a startled sound, tastes the flavor of the salty sea, and then the darkness is twisting, thrusting those fingers to get them nice and wet. It watches her as it does this, watches the play of it's fingers being thrust into Emma's mouth. It's gaze narrows down so that all it can see is her lips wrapped around a part of it, and it purrs, actually smiles and Emma's heart breaks just a little more.

She sucks when encouraged, rolls her tongue around the fingers and closes her eyes. Concentrating on the taste, the feel of the fingers in her mouth, Emma tries to ignore the hook and it's cold, cold metal, as it caress her thigh. Her skin prickles in reaction, the hook caressing circles over it, creeping away not towards the part of her body she is most concerned about.

Emma knows she shouldn't relax, but a touch on the back of her knee seems harmless. Harmless until the darkness shifts, her leg being hooked over the bend in it's arm. Lifted and held, leaving Emma to stand in a spread stance, pain sparks at this exposed, vulnerable position.

Emma makes a protesting sound around the fingers in her mouth, snaps open her eyes which are colored with worry. The darkness still smiling lets Emma suck on it's fingers for a few seconds more, before jerking them out. It is with those fingers, so wet from Emma's mouth, that the darkness touches between her legs.

Immediately, Emma tries to twist away. "No, please!" She gasps out. The darkness doesn't heed her, strokes those wet fingers over every velvety inch of her. Emma gasps, and cringes, recoils even more. Goes up on awkward tip toe, and still can't avoid him.

With the aches and the pain, the soreness that has never quite gone away, what the darkness does actually hurts, Emma trembling and afraid. Even when the darkness starts stroking over her clit, Emma can't stop her panic and revulsion. Can't stop fearing what those fingers will do, where they will end up next. She actually shrieks when the darkness begins an attempt to push a finger inside her, her panic making things worse, making Emma forget how to breathe.

Her chests heaves, her face turns an unseemly red. The darkness still finds her beautiful, irresistible, and presses against her. Inhales a scent made all the sweeter by her fear, the darkness begins purring into Emma's neck, kissing and licking and biting the skin there.

Emma is pushing at the darkness, but it will not be budged. It settles against her, aroused and growing more so, the longer it plays with her body. The few times she remembers to breathe only make Emma dizzy, leaving her to close her eyes against the spinning sights around them.

"Well..." Says an amused voice. "What do we have here..."

Her eyes snap open at the voice, at the sheer surprise of the unexpected interruption. It's no saving angel that's come to pay visit, Emma staring in surprise at the woman in the crisp, light gray business suit. Regina Mills is the last person Emma Swan expects to feel happy to see, and yet in the moment, she could almost kiss her because the blonde is certain even Regina can't be so evil as to allow the darkness to have it's way in this manner.

The sound of heels on the pavement draw Emma's attention away from Regina. She sees Cora, the woman dressed in a navy blue business suit. The woman is patting her red hair, looking completely unconcerned with what is being done before her eyes. And Emma then realizes that they've in no way come to save her, might actually intend to stand and watch. Emma's hope shatters, as she realizes that good doesn't always win the day...

To Be Continued...

Well...this was interesting to work on. I'm kinda drawing a blank on what to say, except it's only starting, the dark I got planned. I almost feel like I should spoil at least a part of four...just so people don't completely lynch mob me. Suffice it to say, no Cora and Regina aren't going to be treated to a full on Emma Darkness peep show.

But this chapter ends up causing the Hook POV to be pushed back for a while. ^^;;

I always had this strong image of the darkness doing rapey sexual things to Emma against the side of her car...it didn't progress as far as I first thought, but Emma needs some recuperating time from all the sex she had earlier with the dark one.

This is far from being over...*goes into hiding*

-Michelle

Guest, thanks! Glad you do, though I don't know if you'll still love it after this particular chapter. *hides, nervous*

OneTreeFan, thank you. :D Ah but sadly there wasn't much of that internal fighting going on...but it's cause it's an Emma POV, and she's no mind reader. She can only go on what she's seeing, and so far it looks like the darkness has subdued him. Oh no! D: I just hope I didn't disappoint too badly with this chapter...I mean I was trying to show Emma is so hurt and exhausted, so her emotions are really out of whack, so she got a bit panicky and fearful. Though hopefully she'll get to be ballsy in future chapters. *nods*

Zerousy, thank you! Well, you couldn't wait, but some of it started to play in this chapter. Hope it was worth it! XD The thing about the darkness running around with Killian's face, I thought for this chapter but didn't get to use it, since Emma was too hurt, too sore form sex, to have her thinking similar stuff about it being the darkness wearing Hook's face while trying to "seduce" her into liking it's attention. Oh well, future opportunities...for that and the darkness to get jealous. XD

Angelfan984, ah but the dark hadn't truly been reached in chapter two. It was perhaps dubious consent, but it was her choice and then it wasn't, cause the darkness took it too far...so it went from sex with Hook to bad, bad tiring sex with the darkness. And thank you so much! Loving the feedback I have been getting!


	4. Chapter 4

Things haven't been going exactly the way Regina Mills would have hoped, her happy ever after still lingering out of reach. Still taunting her with it's promise, the hope that everything will become perfect if Regina just do what is needed, and make a sacrifice of everything that everyone else has ever wanted, ever had. It's not a decision Regina makes lightly, not when she has had years of bitter disappointments, of heart break and despair. Resentment has taken root inside her, nearly blinded her to what is right. Regina wants her happy ending, and she's almost not above using Emma Swan to get it.

And so Regina tries to ignore the guilty pangs in her stomach, pretends to not care that she has stumbled upon Emma Swan being violated. Tries to act as unconcerned as Cora truly is, when all the while her head is screaming that it's wrong. For all the heartless things Regina has done, all the lives ruined, the people that have died, the queen has never felt so evil then as at the moment she meets Emma Swan's frantic eyes, and sees the hope there spark and then die.

Revenge suddenly doesn't feel quite so sweet, leaving Regina to wonder if anything is worth the sick feeling that's now festering inside her. Wondering if even Henry's unconditional love will be enough to make her forget what she has done, Regina feels regret of a different kind. Such a strange, foreign feeling, Regina looking past her own pain and sorrows, and realizing she's probably, finally gone too far.

There's a hitch to Regina's breath, one she can't quite hide to feign amused indifference. She's finally realized that her revenge is costing her EVERYTHING, including her son's love, and there is nothing Regina can do to change that. Nothing because she's finally done the one thing that's gone irrevocably too far. Her son has a forgiving nature, but even Henry won't be able to overlook this rape and violation.

Choking on air that tastes foul, Regina opens her mouth and knows her sorries won't be good enough. So she does the only thing she can think of, the only thing she knows to fall back on. She raises an arm, and makes a fist. Feels as well as sees the purple colored energy crackle around it, gathering strength and form. Her regrets and disappointments, her shame and even her anger at herself, give power to the magic. It's one hell of a spell Regina throws at the darkness, and it's still not enough to do more than surface damage.

And yet the darkness roars, actually drops hold of Emma, who collapses to the ground. The blonde haired savior just lays there, a small crumpled form that's trying to not get noticed. Once Regina thought she would have loved to see Emma brought so low, but even that is no longer true, and that fuels the second surge of power Regina needs for her attack.

The spell hits the darkness direct on the chest. The tanned skin discolors briefly, first the dark black and blue of a bruise freshly made, and then the more repugnant browns and yellows of a hurt that is older, but already healing. If the darkness had been mortal, had not had it's ancient, evil magic as backing, Hook's body would have been destroyed. But now existing as he is, the pirate's body remains intact, with not even a single imperfect speck to mark the damage the spell had briefly done.

The darkness looks at Regina, and though it's been a mistake, it's one she repeats gladly. She flings her third ball of energy at the monster, scowls in the face of her fear, and does her best to keep from shaking in her expensive pump shoes.

The darkness moves, and it is with a speed unmatched by anything mortal. One blink of the eyes, and then it is there, it's hand around Regina's throat, lifting her up off the ground. Regina can't focus to call on her magic, can only claw at the darkness' arm. She's gasping for air, and then her mother snaps out a command.

"STOP!"

The Dark One freezes exactly as Cora asks. It doesn't relax it's hand, keeps the grip at just the right pressure, neither crushing nor releasing, and still Regina is going to choke to death if something isn't done and soon.

"Release her." Cora's voice is calm, the woman seeming unaffected by what is happening to her daughter. "Gently." The caution comes a moment too late, the darkness abruptly relaxing it's hand, letting Regina drop to the ground. She sputters and gasps, her face turning red.

"Get up Regina." An unconcerned Cora commands. Regina has to try twice before she can manage to stand. She's wheezing as she does this, her throat sore, her neck bruised. "Honestly." Cora's heels click on the pavement, the woman approaching both her daughter and the Dark One.

"I know you're impatient for results..." Cora continues, looking at her daughter. "But antagonizing him is not going to get you Henry any sooner."

Regina looks at her mother, and realizes the woman is truly without heart. Cora doesn't see anything wrong with what they have witnessed, with the rape they have come across. Cora doesn't seem to even think of Emma Swan, like the woman is just a bug the redhead has already swatted away.

"Henry is gone." Is what Regina croaks out loud. "He's lost to us..."

"Maybe, maybe not." Cora counters. She's holding the dagger, the enchanted blade never far from her hands. It's the one thing that gives her power over the darkness, the only thing that is keeping it from killing indiscriminately. Most certainly, the dagger is the only thing standing in the way of the darkness killing Cora and her daughter, a desire the creature makes no attempt to hide. Regina looks into the murderous slant of it's eyes, and knows the darkness is very, very angry, and all but out of patience.

"What do you want?" The words are ground out like gravel, the darkness speaking with a furious growl. Regina shivers to hear it, but Cora doesn't so much as blink in reaction.

"Ah ah ah." She says out loud. She taps blood red fingernails on the flat of the dagger's blade, striking the name carved into the metal. The darkness narrows it's eyes at her, feigns indifference to the blade that controls and makes a slave of it. "We will be the ones asking the questions."

The darkness hisses, a sound Regina realizes is it's attempt at hiding it's irritation. Cora smiles in understanding, a second before she is pulling back her hand, striking it and her magic across the darkness' cheek.

"Why isn't she dead?" Cora asks, and her smile is no longer anything Regina wants to see. "Why haven't you killed her already?" She's gestured with the dagger, actually pointed it at the prone figure that is Emma Swan.

The darkness's expression is something horrific, Hook's features twisting in a nightmarish way. With one look, Regina knows her mother is a dead woman, walking around on borrowed time. It doesn't matter that she holds the blade, that Cora has made a slave of the darkness. It's merely waiting, patient for it's chance. Biding it's time, knowing that it WILL come, and already reveling in the fact.

"Answer me!" snaps Cora, her own anger distorting her expression.

"Mother perhaps..." Regina begins, and her own voice sounds small and uncertain. She's not even acknowledged, both the queen and the darkness locked in their own private battle, wills tested, anger strengthened.

The air seems to crackle between them, magic sparking off both powerful beings. Cora's eyes narrow, her lips pursed together as though she has tasted something horrible. "You're not..." She begins to say, and then brings a hand to her face. "Oh yes, you are!" She actually laughs, Cora delighting in her realization. "Oh you stupid fool. Trying to fight against the dagger, against your master's will!"

Regina's eyes widened, and she takes a cautious step back. She feels the darkness slither it's gaze in her direction, then snap it back to Cora who is not only still laughing, but actually stepping closer to the Dark One.

"You have to realize how futile this is." Cora says. "How utterly pointless it is to try and resist so long as I have control of the dagger." She's actively taunting the darkness, actually tapping the dagger's tip against the side of the Dark One's cheek. Regina stand frozen, watches as the darkness' jaw clenches.

"With this dagger even the darkness is my slave." Cora continues. "And there's not a damn thing anyone can do..."

Her gloating is interrupted by a growl, the darkness making a grab for the dagger. Cora reacts without thinking, slashing open the palm of that reaching hand. An arc of blood follows that, the blood splattering on the front of Cora's navy blue suit. The darkness howls, actually draws it's still bleeding hand close to it's chest.

Even Cora is stunned by the close call, her mouth hanging open as she watches the darkness voice it's pain. The wound is slow to heal, more of the darkness' blood splattering to the ground. Cora looks at the blood, then looks at the dagger, and actually appears shaken. She doesn't try to speak, not until she's retreated a safe distance.

"Were you trying to get me to kill you?!" Her eyes narrow. "After all I've done for you?!"

"Done for me?!" snarls the darkness. "What exactly have you done for me?!"

"I freed you from Rumplestiltskin for one." Cora retorts. "And I even went so far as to hand pick you out a nice new vessel. One with a mind and will far easier to subdue. Though I'm beginning to wonder if Hook's stupidity hasn't begun to affect you."

"No matter." She continues, ignoring the darkness' incensed growling. "Stupid or not, even you can't mess up this command. See that girl over there...you're going to kill her, as painfully, as slowly, as..."

"Mother, stop!" Regina snaps. She's moved in reach of Cora, actually made a grab at the woman's arm. The surprised look Cora gives her, soon turns suspicious, the woman staring at her daughter with narrowed eyes.

"I'm sorry, you want me to what?" Cora demands. The look she is giving Regina, makes the dark haired woman feel as though she is still a small child, uncertain and powerless.

"I..."

"You didn't actually tell me to stop." Cora continues over her. "Regina, there's simply no room for compassion this late in the game. That girl is our enemy, she's kept your son from you. She HAS to die."

"I know that!" Her voice snaps in agitation, Regina's mind thinking frantic thoughts, questing for some plausible reason why Emma Swan should not be killed. "But...but if we want to find Henry..."

Cora's look is one of impatience, the woman too close to dismissing her daughter completely. Regina stiffens her spine, draws breath into her body, and lies. "You know Snow and her prince have gone to ground, most likely taking Henry with them. There hasn't been a clue, any leads, no chance of discovering their whereabouts until now. Miss Swan might very well be the key to finding them, to reuniting us with my son. It would be foolish to waste the opportunity she gives us."

Regina almost thinks she's tried too hard, that her mother isn't going to take the bait. It takes every bit of will for Regina not to hold her breath and appear too eager, as she waits for her mother to make a decision.

Nodding ever so slowly, Cora casts a look towards where Emma Swan is. The blonde haired savior has heard what Regina has said, heard and reacted enough to push herself upright. She's no longer trying to be unnoticed, her look downright defiant as she glares at the queens.

"Why yes..." Cora says, turning her attention back to Regina. "Why yes, you are right. If anyone might know where they've hidden Henry, it would be her." The gleam in her eyes is crafty, Cora fingering the sharp end of the dagger.

"Of course..." Regina quickly speaks, hoping to interrupt whatever wicked command her heartless mother had been about to voice. 'She might not actually know."

"Then we determine what she DOES know, and dispose of her after."

"We could do that." Regina agrees slowly. "But then there's also the chance Snow and Charming will try to rescue her. You know how they are, how they'd do just about anything for their daughter."

"But would they really give up their grandson to save their daughter.." Cora wondered out loud.

"It's not much of a choice we'll give them." Regina retorted. "And of course, we'll have the Dark One searching as well." She nerved herself to look at the darkness, actually meet it's glowering glare "We might as well get SOME use out of your new slave."

Cora actually smirks at that, the look in her eyes approving. It's a look that once Regina would have killed to see, and now it means nothing to her, because she simply doesn't want to be anything that her mother could be so proud of.

"And if the Dark One should find them first..."

"We can't have it traumatizing Henry." Regina interrupted, her tone firm.

"Oh it's nothing a memory altercating spell won't be able to fix." Cora's words chilled Regina, who began shaking her head no.

"I won't use magic on Henry." Regina insisted. "And I won't have him hating me for the murder of his grandparents."

"You won't have his love either." Cora was quick to point out. "Not even if you spare them."

Regina manages what she hopes is an evil smile. "Who said anything about sparing them? Not when the knowledge of what is happening to their friends, their family, to the people of this town they swore to protect, will hurt them a lot worse and for far longer then killing ever could."

"And what about Henry?" Cora demands.

"I am his mother." Regina answers, still smiling. "He will HAVE to love me." She's smiling on the outside, but inside she is crying. Because Regina knows she has lost Henry, that nothing she ever says or does will ever fix things in his eyes. But she wants to try, wants to do the right thing at long last, an attempt to make up for her many sins, so that maybe in some future life, Regina will have a real chance at obtaining love and the happy ever after she so craves.

It's not going to happen in this life, Regina's simply too much the evil queen. She's one of the villains of this story, and it doesn't matter that her intentions had been done with a pure goal in mind. The love of a young boy, the love of any one, doesn't justify the hurts and manipulations, the deceit and destruction Regina and her mother have done.

And yet it doesn't stop Regina from wishing it could be otherwise. From wishing she could somehow truly fix things, and not just selfishly for herself. She looks towards Emma Swan, meets the blonde's angry, accusing stare, and Regina knows there's not enough she can do fast enough, to save Emma from the coming darkness.

To Be Continued...

Sorry, super short chapter. It drove me nuts too...and I didn't get it to the point I was hoping for. Now I'm left debating if it will be a Emma POV for next chapter, or if I will keep on with a Regina POV...

Regina wasn't originally set to have a POV for any chapters. But then while working on three, she started demanding it, and it worked to present a lot of the information I needed. But this chapter feels very talk heavy, and less on the emotions and angst side.

I actually am feeling pretty drained from struggling with this chapter. Sorta want to work on something not so dark and heavy. Might try to finish the first chapter of the sequel I owe ya'll, before trying to write five of THIS story. We'll see how I feel after I get some sleep.

-Michelle

Zerousy, OMG, what feedback! Thank you so much! I adored every word of your review. I literally glowed with pleasure. Thank you sooooooooooo much! I just hope I didn't disappoint you with four. I had a really hard time with it...I swear it's too much talking messing with my flow. ^^'' But your review was fantastic, and just what I needed to read after being so nervous over three! *hugs*

Guest, trying, but I can't always promise to update fast. This fic can be emotionally draining to write. X_X

OneTreeFan, thank you. Trying my best. Even when I get frustrated at myself...I'm also happy you found three well written. :)

Guest, trying my best to get more written. Though so sleepy right now, I'm probably incoherent more so than usual. Z_Z

Angelfan984, that it is. As for Killian, well suppose it's no spoiler, since I believe I've stated in previous chapters, I intend for there to be Hook POVs. So suffice it to say he hasn't been consumed with no point of resurfacing, try as the darkness might to keep control over the body.

Guest, I'm not really going to say much to you, cause that route will only lead to drama. Suffice it to say, while you have a right to your opinion, you do not have the right to force on me or anyone else what to read, what to write, or even what to enjoy or not to enjoy. I really dislike people who try to stifle other's muses and creativity. The fic had warnings, you should have skipped it if rape upsets you so. There is a list on goodreads called the taboo list, and it proves that dark stuff does sell and is consider some kind of entertainment. A lot of the books on that list, are simply too dark and disturbing for me to want to read or spend my money on. Just because I can't handle those books' level of darkness, doesn't mean I am going to attack the authors for writing them. I'm simply not going to read them and move on with my life.

Mandie, thank you! Glad you like the story so much so far! I'm blushing in pleasure to read you find it descriptive and well written. :D And yes, sometimes a dark trip is just what is needed, whatever the reasons for wanting it. :) And I feel honored you consider this your fave dark CS so far! Hope it continues to appeal to you. Thanks again!

Alpha Huntress, why thank you. :D Enjoyed your insights to what you got out of the chapters you've read. Glad you like the darkness, evil creature that it is! Hook really bit off more than he could handle, and the worst part is, he didn't even know what would happen if he used the dagger! *face palms*

I do have some thoughts on what kind of effects the darkness could have on the people of Storybrooke. Not that most of the populace would want to sacrifice Emma just so they could be left alone, but they owe her for being the saving light that keeps the darkness so distracted. But poor Emma...

Hook and his chemistry, or feelings for Emma, will come into play soon enough. So yes, the darkness hasn't succeeded in pushing him aside just yet! Even if it's been greedy, hogging the spotlight, the body, and the experiences with Emma!


	5. Chapter 5

There is a moment when Emma almost forgets her own pain. A moment when anger rules her, Emma rising up off the ground. The pain that then staggers her, is an unfortunate, unwanted, and above all potent reminder. She does her best not to cry out, her lips sealed tight against even the slightest of whimpers. But her body concedes to the pain, Emma falling against her car, actually needing it's support at her back to remain upright.

That pain, as weak as it makes her feel, also adds fire to her anger. Emma HATES feeling this way, despises being rendered so helpless. Emma fears it too, but at the moment, she is doing her very best to ignore that frightened feeling, to pretend she is not battered and weakened, and up alone against three very evil and powerful beings.

And so she stands taller, ignores the fact that she needs help, that her legs are shaking uncontrollably. Emma pulls herself together, the anger in her eyes, the defiance that seems to spark off of her, giving the blonde a presence. Emma not only makes herself feel every inch of proud determination, she LOOKS it.

That focus, that control, that sheer will to ignore the odds against her, powers Emma's glare. She practically sneers at the two women across the street, the pair among the evilest of bitches Emma has ever had the misfortune to know.

Of course their evil paled in comparison to the creature besides them. To the ancient, otherworldly being that was man's every twisted desire and malice made real. The darkness was made worse because it had taken a tangible form, had forced itself into what was only the latest in a string of bodies that numbered among the countless.

The darkness wore Hook's body like it was a fine suit, it's otherworldly essence actually changing the pirate. Making him into something more. Already a very handsome man, now with the darkness inside him? Hook was devastating. With subtle but potent changes, the glamour done, Hook's face became dark seductive beauty taken to the extremes, the kind that would pull the unsuspecting to it. Like a siren, that beauty would lure many a maiden and even some men to it. And just like those sirens of myth, it wouldn't be love and light the darkness delivered, but pain and tears, the ruin of all one held dear.

Even knowing this, even being burnt by the darkness first hand, Emma still has to fight against believing in it's lies. Actually fight against being deceived by that beauty, by the mockery it has made of Hook's face. Emma knows first hand what that beauty hides, what the darkness is capable of, and how it hadn't stopped in time. Her body is the actual proof of the kind of care and treatment a woman could expect at the darkness' hands. Emma knows without a doubt that the Dark One, so evil, so selfish, is dangerous, deadly and above all insatiable.

It is also an evil that is fixated on HER. Emma doesn't understand why or how that particular bit of insanity came to be, and right now she doesn't care. She'll shove aside her questions, try to bury her fear and her pain, let them all be burned by her anger, and swallowed up by her more pressing concerns.

"Stay the hell away from my family."

Emma's voice is strong, not betraying any of the weak or hopeless feelings inside her. She lets not only her concern show, but allows the powerful, driving need to safeguard her family, morph her into something stronger. Something-someone who can't acknowledge the pain, who will fight tooth and nail to protect those that matter most. Henry is chief in her thoughts, but so are Mary Margaret and David, the parents she had never known, the family she was still trying to learn. Emma wants to save them, doesn't want Regina or Cora, and especially not the darkness to go near them. She's not giving a damn about herself in the moment, not thinking, not caring that she might be making her situation WORSE.

All three have turned towards her, looking for the world like they have been reminded that she is something more than just the darkness' victim. And suddenly Emma feels very small, reminded that she is up against three beings who are strong in magic and united against her. Alone and without a gun or a sword, Emma wonders if it would have been better to remain on the ground, to remain weak, and defeated in their eyes.

But Emma doesn't want to be their tool, doesn't want to be used to help them in any way. She'd rather die than let Cora and Regina use her as bait, and Emma would be damned before letting them go after her family without so much as a peep from her. Not that her heated demand has had much effect on the three. Not with Cora looking so amused, the woman who was so dismissive of Emma on her best days, now hardly concerned by her defiance on what is her worst.

It's clear that Cora is not even registering Emma as a threat now, might actually be toying with her, when she speaks. "You're hardly in a position to make demands." She actually smirks at Emma, her gaze no less cruel than her words. "What do you possibly think you can do to stop us in your present condition?"

And there is the rub, Emma recoiling at the truth that question mocks her with. Because what can she do, with a body that is shaking, without a sword or a gun in her hands, and with magic inside her that Emma is incapable of accessing, let alone using. The fact that Emma knows and recognizes those facts, doesn't make her circumstances any easier to swallow. Nor she can she tolerate the mocking titter of laughter Cora lets out.

"It's time to accept facts, my dear." Cora says. "As you are now, you can't even protect yourself. The smartest thing you could do, is to keep quiet and speak only when asked, but then...you've never struck me as a particular bright girl."

"I'm smart enough to know that with all you are doing, Henry will NEVER forgive you." Emma looks directly at Regina when she says this. The raven haired woman seems to almost flinch, the expression in her eyes some heavy emotion that shows Regina knows Emma is right. "Henry will never love you Regina, you have to know that. Not after what you've done, what you let happen..."

"Henry is a young boy." Cora interrupts smoothly. "And young minds are ever so malleable. He may resist at first, but eventually...he will come to see that his mother and I were acting in his best interests."

"You're insane." Emma states. "And delusional if you think Henry is going to overlook the ruin of his family, his REAL family, without you messing up his mind with magic." Her eyes are still on Regina, whose gaze is shifting, the woman unable to truly look at Emma. "Is that the plan Regina? Are you going to mind fuck my son?"

"I'm not going to use any magic on Henry!" Regina immediately protests.

"Is that what you think, or is that only going to last as long as your patience?" Emma demanded.

"I..."

"How long Regina?!" Emma cut in on the woman's stammering attempt at speaking. "How long before you're exactly like, no, worst than your mother?"

"ENOUGH!" Cora snaps out. "The only words I want to hear from you are the ones that reveal just where Snow and the others have taken Henry."

"IF they're smart, they'll have already crossed the boundary." Emma manages a smirk, hiding the pain she feels at the thought of David and Mary Margaret forgetting all about her. "You're welcome to follow them...at the cost of your magic and your memories..." And then she is crying out, but no sound is escaping her for the magic Cora hits Emma with, steals her very voice.

There is pain along with the theft, a burning in her throat that distracts Emma from her anger. She's sagging in place against the car, actually starting to slide down it to her knees when the darkness appears before her. Everything in her recoils at it's nearness, Emma lashing out with her arms, the rising hysteria inside her noting that her one hand is still bleeding and covered with splinters of glass shards.

The darkness endures, but it's patience is mixed with the rough way it handles her. Actually hauling her up right, pinning her in place with it's body, it's not support or true concern the darkness offers her. Emma's not even sure what it is this creature wants, what game it is playing now. She's not sure she even CARES, Emma too blinded with panic to stop fighting and analyze the Dark One's actions. Even when it's fingers close painfully around her injured hand, even when Emma shrieks a silent protest, she continues to fight.

And yet the cold metal of the hook at her throat, gets to her the way no other can. Emma actually freezes, actually allows her terrified eyes to truly look into the darkness' stolen face. The Dark One is frowning, it's gaze narrowed as it strokes the sharp tip of the hook over her skin. Emma doesn't fail to notice it is caressing exactly where the spell burns the most, that it's being careful not to split open her skin.

It doesn't bypass Cora's notice either, the woman speaking in calm tones. "It's nothing more than a simple spell to shut her up. Harmless...for the most part."

Emma sees the reaction of the darkness, sees the way anger fills it's eyes. The glower it wears, is worse than any look it had previously given Cora and Regina, and that is before the vicious snarl of words erupt out of the Dark One.

"You play with what is NOT yours to have."

Even terrified, Emma reacts, bristling with anger, with an empathic protest. She tries to speak the words, to tell the darkness she is most definitely not it's, but Emma can't voice even a squeak of sound. Furious but frightened of what the darkness implies, Emma can only stand there and glare.

"Come now." Cora says over Emma's attempts to speak. "It's not as if you need her voice to do the things you want to do to her."

Already upset, Emma is not at all reassured by the words that rumble out of the darkness. "I enjoy hearing the sounds that she makes."

"Well then see if you can get her to sing a more pleasing tune." Cora retorts, a snap of her fingers releasing the spell inside Emma's throat. "Something along the lines of telling us where her family is hidden."

Emma wants to be brave. She wants to believe she won't crack, that she won't betray her own family. But the darkness SCARES her, and she is terrified of what it wants, of what it may try to do next. Emma would prefer to be cut up and tortured, rather than kissed, would actually tremble less if that hook was doing anything else besides caressing over the front of her borrowed shirt.

The darkness is smiling at her, it's arm tensing to rip open her shirt. Emma can't find it in her to scream, or to tell it what Cora wants to know. She tells herself she is being brave, but really Emma has frozen up, unable to do anything but stand there and shake. It's too soon, and Emma still hurts. She doesn't at all want to think how much more painful it will be, how much more damaged she'll become.

Emma's shaking her head no, trying to whimper and even that is beyond her. The darkness is making a low sound, purring at her, but it's anything but soothing to Emma. She stares into it's eyes, tries to find a shred of Hook inside it, but sees only that alien, other worldly being. Some creature who doesn't understand right from wrong, about choices, or about being nice.

When the scream starts, Emma thinks it is her voice that is doing it. But it's not. It is Regina, the woman grabbing at her mother's arm. She looks angry as she screams, telling her mother to stop this right now.

"It's too late to develop a conscience, Regina!" Cora snaps.

"I'm not, I swear it!" Regina screams back. "But this is going too far!"

"I didn't raise you to be so weak as to not be able to stomach a little torture!" Cora's own voice was raising, the mother daughter drama background noise to the darkness' own actions. The shirt began to rip, but slowly, the darkness trying to build up anticipation but instead heightening Emma's fear and revulsion.

"It's not a matter of what I can and can't stomach!" Regina shouted. "Why are you rewarding it? A slave who has done nothing that we asked it for. The Dark One shouldn't be allowed to have anymore of it's fun, until after it finds us Henry!"

Those words brought the hysteria to Emma, laughter bubbling up inside her. She couldn't believe it, found it obscene that Regina was arguing not about stopping the rape that was about to happen, but merely objecting to the timing of it. It was surreal, and only fortified Emma's belief that Regina was evil.

Cora and Regina's voices seemed to fade into the background, mere whispers that couldn't drown out the sound of Emma's shirt ripping. The buttons that popped, thumped like a drum beat against the pavement. The darkness' smile was all she could truly see, her awareness of the creature inhabiting Hook's body, taking over everything. Blocking out the sights and sounds, the feel of everything but the darkness and it's touch. Leaving Emma reeling, her vision swimming, and then the darkness was screaming, it's voice an infuriated, unnatural roar.

"Oh do stop the nonsense." Cora was speaking, but it was as though Emma had gone deaf. She could only hear the darkness, taste the rage flowing off it in waves. "You'll have your chance to play later. AFTER you find Henry and his grandparents."

Already so angry, it turned from Emma. Gave the full focus of it's incensed glare to the red haired Queen that was brandishing it's dagger. There weren't enough words in the human language to describe the extent of it's malevolent rage, the pure, unbridled fury it directed towards Cora.

"Careful now." Cora warned, the woman hardly amused by the darkness' anger. Neither did she seem frightened or intimidated, the woman barely reacting to being the focus of such a temper. "Your tantrums will only get you punished, rather than rewarded."

It's anger didn't simmer, words hissing out of the darkness. "You try what's left of my patience, witch."

"And you have run through the last of mine!" Cora snapped back in retort. "Go now! Find Snow White, her prince, and the boy. Bring them all to me. I don't care how you do it, but take care with the child. He is not to be harmed in any way."

The darkness didn't immediately leap to do Cora's bidding, growling at her one last time. When it takes a step forward, Emma loses that which was supporting her upright, watching as the darkness then disappeared into the shadows. As Emma started to slide down the side of the car, she tried to instead lunge forward. Shouting in protest, reaching for the darkness that was already gone, the woman landed on her knees. Even without understanding what exactly had been said, Emma KNEW. She knew without fail that the darkness had been sent after her family, and just as certain, Emma knew they really stood no chance against fighting off that evil.

Sagging in place, Emma knelt on the pavement. Her hands made fists in her lap, and she shook uncontrollably. Slowly sound came back to her, Emma hearing Regina speaking quietly to Cora.

"You're treating the Dark One like it's no better than a dog." Regina was saying. "And using Miss Swan as the treat to train it with."

"Considering what it is, there's not much else we can use in order to bring it to heel." Cora retorted, then actually complained. "The darkness is more willful than I expected. I don't like that...it's being too defiant."

"That defiance is going to get you killed mother." Regina retorted. "The darkness is too dangerous for any one to truly use. It would be best if we rid ourselves of it..."

"Put that thought out of your mind at once daughter!" Cora hissed. "The darkness is ultimate power. If Rumplestiltskin could control it, so can I!"

"It took Rumplestiltskin years to learn how!" Regina pointed out. "Who knows how much it cost him in the process!"

"Rumplestiltskin didn't have Emma Swan. With her we can..."

"You'll do nothing." Emma said, then snapped it louder. "Nothing you hear me! I will not be your pawn!" With a strength that was surprising even to her own self, Emma lunged upright, intent on Cora. She wasn't truly intending to punch the red haired queen, though that would have been a satisfying bonus. Instead Emma had made a desperate decision. A desperate, dangerous, deadly one, the blonde haired woman having decided it was better to die than continue to be used.

Emma Swan lurched towards Cora as fast as she could with her fists swinging. Expecting Cora to lash out, to strike her down without thinking, Emma wasn't expecting Regina to catch hold of her when she stumbled halfway across the street.

"Let me go!" Emma screamed, furious at being thwarted.

"You really don't learn, do you Miss Swan?" Cora asked, as Emma struggled weakly in Regina's hold. "Nothing you do now matters...your fate is MINE to decide." She reached out, those fingers tipped with blood red nails gripping firm hold of Emma's chin. "But I'll tell you what. Tell me where Henry has been hidden, and I will grant you a mercy."

"A mercy?"

Yes." Cora gave a bone chilling smile. "You want to die, don't you? Rather than be given to that thing in Hook's body. Well I will arrange it. I'll even make your death a quick one."

"And all I have to do is betray Henry and my parents to you..." Emma whispered, then actually spit in Cora's face. "To hell with that and you!"

The slap was immediate, Cora giving into her anger. "You stupid girl! I offered you mercy! And instead of thanking me, you do this? Ooooh! You're going to pay for this...pay for it in spades..."

"Mother, just remember you-we need her." Regina's voice sounded odd, as though it was strained with emotion. "If we want to stand any chance of controlling the darkness..."

"Oh don't worry, Regina darling. I wasn't going to do anything...permanent." Cora gestured with her arm, a thick choking smoke surrounding all three of the women. Emma shifted against Regina, struggled in her hold. But the smoke was everywhere, and Regina was exerting her full strength to hold onto Emma's weakened form.

When the smoke finally did clear, Emma was red faced and coughing. She looked and found they had been transported. It was to Regina's office, the mayor's seat of power, in Storybrooke's main government building. Regina didn't relax her hold on Emma, but she actually shifted them slightly, so that the blonde wasn't trapped between the two queens.

"Now...where were we?" Cora asked, a vindictive look in her eyes, as she fingered the dagger.

"Mother, let me." Regina spoke up. "I've got nearly two years of resentments against Miss Swan to work out."

Cora actually looked proud. "And just when I worried you had gone soft on me. Very well Regina, have your fun. I will go make sure everything is ready for the...guests...the Dark One will bring us."

"All right mother." Agreed Regina. the tremble in her arms so slight, Emma wondered if she had imagined it. Emma tensed all the same, bracing herself for what she expected would be violent, only to find herself being lowered gently to the floor by Regina. Her brow furrowed, a frowning Emma Swan turning to look up at Regina.

"You look like hell, Miss Swan." Regina commented in a matter of fact tone. But she wasn't gloating, wasn't so much as smiling about it.

"Gee I wonder whose fault THAT is." Emma bit out with real anger. She was surprised when Regina visibly flinched, the woman closing her eyes for a brief moment. She seemed to be focusing on her breathing, though for what reason Emma couldn't guess. And then Regina did something astonishing, the woman opening her eyes, and lowering herself down to crouch in front of Emma.

"I know it won't be worth much..." Regina said, her strong voice holding an unsteady note of raw emotion to it. "But I am sorry."

Emma could only stare at her wide eyed, Regina's look one of bitterness. "This is NOT how I wanted to win." The raven haired woman confessed. "It's going too far, even for me..." Her hands glowed, a softer purple magic sparking around them. Though Emma could sense this wasn't a destructive spell, she still stiffened and tried to scoot backwards. But she couldn't avoid Regina's hands, the woman running them over Emma, ghosting them over every part of her, actually HEALING the damage that had been done.

That included her hand, the glass shards gone, the bleeding now stopped. Emma felt her strength returning as the pain receded then went away completely. But she didn't give into shock, saving it for a time when-IF they all survived the darkness and Cora's plans. Instead, with her strength back, her body revitalized and healed, Emma launched herself fist first at Regina.

There was a satisfying crack of sound as her fist hit Regina in the face. The dark haired queen fell over backwards with a muffled cry, Emma riding her body downwards. She ended up straddling Regina's chest, preparing to strike her again when Regina lashed out with her magic.

With a scream that was born of her fury, Emma was tossed off and away from Regina. She was slammed into a wall, felt that invisible force hold her in place. Regina was still on the floor, hand to her mouth. When she lowered it, Emma saw that Regina's lower lip had split and was bleeding.

"Okay...I deserved that." Regina muttered, clearly trying to keep her temper under control.

"You deserve to rot!" Emma spat out, trying to resist the impulse to struggle against the unseen force that was pinning her in place. "You and Cora for all you've done!" She was glaring, almost snarling out the words. "How could you even consider unleashing such a creature on Storybrooke? Why would you ever allow that monster to run free, to put it anywhere near Henry?! How could you let it..."

"I didn't know!" Regina screamed over her. Emma gasped, then laughed. A bitter mocking sound that showed just how little she trusted Regina's claims. "I didn't know it would be quite that evil, that it would be this out of control, that it would do such things."

"How could you NOT know?!" demanded Emma. "What did you think would happen, if you unleashed the darkness?!"

"It was only supposed to kill you..."

"Oh only." Emma scoffed, then spat. "And I'm supposed to believe your sensibilities were offended by what it did instead?!" Regina was silent, but even if she had tried to say anything, Emma would have talked over her. "Face it Miss Mayor, you're only having second thoughts, because you realized you can't control it. Or...or maybe you think by playing the regret card, it will somehow win you Henry's love. Well that ship has sailed. He will never forgive you, OR love you. And all the magic in the world won't change that what you do get from him, you have to take by force and manipulate his mind for!"

"You're wrong." Regina said, in a voice that was keeping tight reign on her true feelings. "This is not some last desperate grab to win Henry's love. I've finally seen that revenge can only take me so far, that it is costing me more than it gives me! I KNOW I have gone to far, that I have lost Henry for good, and I am sorry."

"Then help me." Emma hissed. "Help me to save him AND my parents!"

"I..I'm sorry..."

"Stop with your sorries, and actually do something to help us!" Emma snarled, struggling harder against the invisible force.

"I'm doing the best that I can." Regina retorted, wringing her hands together in agitation. "I'll try to stop my mother AND the darkness...but it's going to take time."

"We're already out of time!"

"I know, and I am sorry. I won't be able to stop what is happening any time soon. Not unless I get lucky..." Regina looked away at Emma's frustrated shout. "I'm going to do what I can for Snow and Charming. To keep them alive until I can act. But..."

"Where does that leave me?" demanded Emma, her heated tone a striking contrast to the cold seeping through her. "Regina...?" But the queen wouldn't meet her eyes, was shrugging her shoulders as though it was too awful a thing to voice an answer to. Emma went mad, fought hard against the invisible force that was holding her down, her snarling screams protests that weren't going to change a thing. Weren't going to stop her from being swallowed up the darkness once more.

To Be Continued...

So...had some real life interruptions forcing me away from being able to write distraction free. But I finally was able to work on it tonight, even with people this time trying to be the distractions. XD

This chapter...okay I really had wanted a lot to happen in four, but a POV switch and a splitting of things later, we have chapter five. I was getting worried I might have to split events again, to fit everything that was supposed to be in four, into three chapters...but I thought of a way to keep six with the POV and scene setting that I wanted, and still explain some things. Lets just hope I can get it started and written easier than this and four proved to be!

One thing I thought was that they wouldn't spend so much time outside Gold's shop. I had actually intended to start things off in the mayor's office, but with time having passed. But it didn't work out that way. Cora also said a few lines I had originally wanted Emma to say to Regina. The Regina Emma alone together scene went pretty on track, though I had wanted to work a time skip in, and have certain people moved into place. Ah well, didn't happen exactly like I planned, but I am pleased with this chapter!

-Michelle

OneTreeFan, thank you! Glad you liked the Regina POV. It made me happy to read the responses, even though I will probably be always biased and feel that four was the weakest of chapters. But I'm being hard on myself...

Guest, thank you! I finally updated. Better slow than never...

Zerousy, why thank you. I am delighted that the look into Regina's POV was met with such positive feedback. As for her, Cora, and my reasoning, well I figure Cora is okay with such things, cause she removed her own heart. She truly is heartless. While Regina still has a heart, so can feel bad, guilty, even horrified. Kinda like how in that episode, where she told her soldiers to kill the villagers, but apparently hadn't expected it to really happen, cause later when she and Snow White came across the bodies, she was pretty shocked. Maybe I misinterpreted that scene, or maybe she was just regretting it, or had forgotten the order she gave. But I'm going for she's okay with a lot of things, both in reality and theory, but seeing Emma being raped or about to be raped again, was more than she was prepared. If that makes sense, which I hope it does!

There will be more darkness POVS! I think of it as gender less, but it has a strong leaning towards male...I think it really likes being in Hook's body. And yes, our favorite captain will be resurfacing, maybe sooner than everyone expects!

Angelfan984, thanks. To be honest I don't feel the Regina POV was good enough. Like I couldn't get the quality or maybe the emotional feel to match the first three. I worry I'm suffering the same problem for five, for whenever I have dialogue heavy scenes. =/ And thanks for the supporting comments regarding the bad review I got.

Mandie, thank you! You really know how to make a girl blush! Or me in particular perhaps. :D Wonderful content? I love that you said that! And more darkness is coming, along with Killian too! Just had to set up some things...I'm trying to set up a whose gonna get the dagger from Cora first thing...mainly for the background. Cause soon it's gonna be very heavy on the three stars of this fic.

Alpha Huntress, thank you! I was waiting to see if you would get to three, which seems to be the make it or break it chapter for people. The one where they decide if they are gonna hate this story or not. Glad to see it is one you still enjoy. I'm glad you so enjoy the darkness! Its sorta the break out star, or so it seems at any rate!

I giggle reading some of your comments, and I'm sure the darkness would purr in agreement at you. Then growl at the queens for interrupting it's fun. *flails* Yes, the darkness got an unpleasant shock to find that Emma had run from it. Control freak is probably putting it mildly. Hoo boy...anyway I will try to continue doing my best!


	6. Chapter 6

Killian Jones, the man who is also known as Captain Hook, has been swallowed up by the darkness. Buried deep in it's shadows, he's been shoved to some forgotten recess of his own body. Left to flounder surrounded by thick, choking pools of inky darkness, Killian Jones can only scream. Can only lay there, blinded by the dark, his screaming voice silent, his air cut off, Killian doesn't even know up from down.

He's been cut off from his own body so that nothing get through to him. No sound, no sight, no way to feel, Killian Jones is cold, actually freezing from the lack of it. From the complete shutting down of his senses. Killian can't even feel pain, his existence narrowed down to the darkness he is drowning in.

He chokes and he thrashes about, but there is no escaping the darkness. Not even death can reach him this deep within, Killian Jones doesn't even dare hope for a miracle. Doesn't try to pray. He's not even sure he wants to be saved, might even think he deserves the darkness, given all Killian's done.

He doesn't exactly feel guilt for killing Rumplestiltskin. Or for hunting relentlessly after revenge year after year. Killian's been a broken, bitter man, his life ruined by the love he has lost. The love stolen, actually murdered before him. That lost love has been the defining moment for him, the moment Killian Jones had abandoned his name, had turned his back on everything including life. It was that moment, when Rumplestiltskin had crushed Mila's heart, that Killian Jones had given up on happily ever after's and had decided to die.

For all the years Captain Hook has been around, Killian Jones has been waiting. Searching for a way, desperate to get one over on Rumplestiltskin, to deal some final crippling blow on the monster that would finally satisfy him enough so that Killian Jones could lay down and die. He's literally spent hundreds of years waiting for that chance, questing for power, for artifacts, for a weapon. Reaching for a revenge that seemed forever out of reach, Killian has used and hurt many in the process.

He can't even remember all the people he's hurt. Their faces tend to blur together, time making him forget their names. They've just been stepping stones on the way to his revenge, and Killian has preferred it that way, actively distancing himself from any chance of a relationship. Avoiding making friends, having lovers, even enemies, Killian Jones has only seen other people as tools to be manipulated and used.

It is one of the great ironies of his life, that the same thing has been done to him. He's been used, tricked, lied to and manipulated, and it hasn't all been done by Cora alone. There's been Cora's daughter Regina, and even the Swan woman, though that last one he can't truly fault her for the mistrust she has shown him. Killian HAD been using her, had been using them all, playing the women against each other, ready to throw down with whoever could bring him closest to enacting his revenge.

And yet with the Swan woman, with Emma, Killian feels remorse. He actually wishes there could have been another way, that they hadn't been so busy one upping each other with betrayals. Killian has found himself wanting things he has no business wanting, desiring Emma, actually feeling hope skirting the edges of his conscience. To a man who has turned his back on actually living, the feelings Emma Swan rouses in Killian are disturbing at the very least.

Especially when he's sure he can't have her. Not in any permanent way. Emma Swan is too good for him, too bright a light, her brilliance would only burn him up, bring forth to light the dirty stains of his soul. Killian Jones doesn't deserve her, and for that alone he's too scared to try for the happily ever after she makes him want.

That fear doesn't stop him from wanting Emma any less. He's wanted to reach out and touch that brilliance, not caring if he dirties it in the process. The pirate in him is greedy, and would drag Emma down to his level, if that is what it took to have her. There is darkness in Killian Jones that has nothing to do with the evil entity that has taken over his body. Greedy lustful desires, a driving desperation Killian has fought against. Some part of him has wanted to ruin Emma Swan, to punish her for making him want things, the want to live, to love, to be happy, and above all to forget the woman that is the cause of so much pain.

Killian has had a hard time accepting the idea of moving on. On moving past Mila, and the hurts the loss of her has caused. Killian has felt guilt, has felt shame, has actually worried that what he wants from Emma is a betrayal of everything he had promised to another. To the vows he had made to Mila, both when she was alive, and after she had died. Killian knows he is damaged, that the loss of Mila has left him confused, hurting, and frightened. Actively balking against reaching for a healing hand, Killian has only made things worse for himself in trying to deny the attraction he feels for Emma Swan.

Not ready to be healed, nor comforted, Killian had assumed the distance he kept Emma at, would leave them both safe. He had never expected her to make the first move, to actively try to seduce him. It left him completely unprepared, when in a moment of sheer desperation, Emma had done exactly that. And once she had laid her hands on him, had actually invited him to take her, Killian hadn't been able to truly resist.

Of course he had TRIED. With the darkness slithering around inside him, feeding off his wants and desires, Killian had attempted to push Emma away. But his honorable intentions were murky at best, and Emma had been determined to distract the monster inside Killian. The man had given in to her lips, to the sweet caress of her hands, and at some point he had lost control completely, the darkness lunging forward to seize command of the body they now shared.

It had been the darkness not Killian having it's way with Emma then. It's hand on Emma's hip, it's lips covering her mouth. An ever greedy, grasping creature by nature, the darkness had seen what it wanted, had taken what it was never meant to have. Lured in by a touch, undone by a kiss, the darkness had been quick to make use of the passion between Killian and Emma.

Reaping rewards it had no right to, the darkness hadn't been content to just take from Emma. Every moment stolen, the darkness hadn't wanted to share. Had actively beat back the pirate, shoving him down deeper into the body, locking him away from Emma's warmth, from all awareness. Leaving him with nothing but one fleeting moment, the second when Emma had arched back with a cry, her aroused flesh welcoming the darkness inside it.

Locked up tight so that nothing can penetrate his prison, Killian has no concept of how much worse things have become. No idea that the darkness already so dangerously infatuated with Emma Swan, has become obsessed. No mere fleeting fancy, the darkness has found the one thing it wants to possess, the one single shining thing in this world that can drive it to madness with needs. The needs that it is incapable of understanding, because the darkness was never meant to love, is actually incapable of it and other soft emotions.

The darkness can only hurt and use, make a mockery of human intimacy. It's all dark impulses and twisted desires, and made now a hundred times worse for it has tasted a woman. The darkness so quick to torture and kill, has found a new addiction, has found how sweetly satisfying it is between a woman's legs. It's out of control with this lust, sex a new twist on old, familiar things. The darkness has understood the lusts of men, the lust for battle, for money, for revenge. It has seen whole kingdoms destroyed by it, has known it to be a powerful thing.

The darkness has used lust, has actually turned men's desires against them. It has seen what lust is capable of, knows just how much damage it can do. It knows how it can seduce, how it can be used to trick and manipulate others, men willing to do anything for it's promises fulfilled.

Thinking it understands better, the lusts that drive it and men, the darkness can only purr in satisfaction as it pursues after it's own selfish bliss. It's almost blinded to the struggles of the woman beneath it, it's hand gripping her right hip. Holding her in place, the darkness is almost lazy as it fucks her. Watching with soul blackened eyes, it stares at their point of connection, watching as it's stolen body bumps their groins together. Maintaining it's aroused state, it's lips wetting as the darkness watches it's cock be fed into Emma's Swan's body from behind.

Already having come, more times than it can recall, the darkness toys with Emma. Makes her wait suspended between her revulsion and disgust, slowly, persistently building up need inside her, it tries to use her body against her. Every so often, Emma makes a protesting sound, constant with her attempts to jerk forward, away from the darkness' relentless wants. She tries everything and when that fails, tries to crawl away, using her hands grip on the headboard of the bed, to try and pull away from the invading darkness.

Each time, the darkness hauls her back. Each time it makes certain to stab in deep inside her. Emma can only grit her teeth in response, trying to block the screams that build constantly within her. Her hands fist the wood of the headboard so hard that her knuckles go white in response. There's fresh blood under her nails, Emma having bit and clawed at the darkness, fighting the Dark One and it's embrace until she had exhausted all her energies, and still it had taken her. Again and again, until it's kisses left her choking, it's unwanted touch stirring the tiniest flickers of an arousal that was despised.

What the darkness did to her, was made worse by it's attempts to make Emma enjoy it. She'd welcome pain, would actively encourage the darkness to be violent and hit her. Anything but what it does, what it tries to trick her into wanting, into accepting with while wearing Hook's face and body.

Emma doesn't remember exactly when the darkness had flipped her onto her stomach. Nor does she particularly care. It's easier to be fucked like this, to know this is a monster raping her, rather than to face it, and see Hook. Emma knows Hook is gone, that the darkness has taken root deep inside. But it's far more difficult to acknowledge, when the monster wears his face, shows her Hook's smile, and touches her with his hand.

Emma thinks being taken from behind is somehow a slight improvement over all the darkness has done. Emma thinks she can sit and pretend, ignore that it's using against her, a body she has been attracted to. If she's fucked like an animal, treated as nothing more than outlet for some stranger's desires, then maybe the lines won't be blurred. Maybe her body won't become so confused as to feel even the slightest glimmer of pleasure at the darkness' hands.

But the darkness isn't content to let Emma ignore it for long. Still maintaining that slow, lazy thrusting, the darkness sweeps aside her hair. With her back exposed, it presses into her from behind, Emma making a sound of discomfort at it's weight pinning her down into the mattress. Her skin crawls at the feel of the Dark One's front pressing against her so that not even an inch of space is between them. She can feel it's nipples against her, feel every hard line of it's body. Emma tries again to crawl away, and an arm goes around her, the cold metal of it's hook a shock against her fevered flesh.

Emma is shaking by the time the Dark One starts kissing over her shoulder. Wet open mouth kisses, the darkness can't stop tasting her. Slickening her skin with it's mouth, Hook's slight beard rubbing it's short bristles over her, Emma cries out. Feels teeth nip at the nape of her neck before more kisses are delivered, lips pressed into her skin again and again in greedy worship.

And then the darkness is growling in her ear, using Hook's voice to roar out it's pleasure. It switches out from that lazy pace, to something frantic, the darkness doing a hard pumping several times, it's cock actually lurching in warning a second before it starts emptying it's balls out inside her.

The tension remains inside her, Emma not anywhere near the point of ultimate ecstasy. Though she feels the faintest, reluctant tingles born of what the darkness was trying to force out of her, Emma is proud she has avoided coming in it's arms. It's a small victory, one that may prove fleeting, for the darkness is only getting started. She tries to fight the hand that grips her chin, the darkness turning her face to the side. Brushing lips over her ear, then down to cheek, the darkness is still so insatiably aroused.

Familiar with, but never used to it, Emma groans in frustration as she feels the still hard length of him inside her start to move. The darkness moans, actually mutters her name, it's thrust picking up speed until she's being pounded into the mattress. And all the while it's kissing her, muttering wicked things into her skin, using it's arms to keep her trapped against it's body.

Emma wonders if the darkness ever gets tired. Wonders if she will live long enough to find out. She doesn't know the darkness has gone wild answering a need it has neglected for thousands of years. All Emma does know is that the darkness is hurting her, tiring her out, and using her up. She regrets ever starting this, ever trying to manipulate Hook and distract the monster inside him from killing her with sex. Here in this bed, with the monster on top her, Emma almost wishes she had let the darkness kill her that first time.

To Be Continued...

*twiddles thumbs, fidgeting* Yes I know, short chapter. Hopefully I can make up for it in seven. So...this chapter was supposed to be an all Hook POV, but then it ended up having thoughts from all three characters. But I'm really gonna try to do and maintain an all Hook POV for seven.

No, you didn't miss a chapter. If I can get that Hook POV written, he and you will find out what the heck happened between here and the end of five. Suffice it to say, time has passed (How much is anyone's guess.) and things happened. I made a conscious decision, rather than try to make a chapter out of the events happening one right after the other, that I would have Hook and the readers learn them together.

This wasn't suppose to be a dirty chapter...but then the darkness got some POV moments in, and...well...it happened. It will make some happy, some sad, some mad depending on your own private views and feelings about the darkness and non con/rape situations. I did expect it to happen but not in this order. Like sometime after a Hook and Emma POVS. But the chapter flowed for me like this, so I went with it, rather than fight it. For better or for worse, this is my short chapter six. And I'm okay with it! *runs away to spell check*

-Michelle

Alpha Huntress, oh my thank you. :D You guys are spoiling me with such reviews, but you and Zerousy are extra spoiling me with such lengthy ones! XD And thanks regarding Regina, I am very happy to read what you said. :D Yes, once again even as she tries to do the right thing, it's still kinda selfish, the motives that make her do it. But I feel in this fic she's screwed herself out of a real chance with Henry, unless she tries to wipe his mind with a spell. His memories, like she did in that one instant on the actual show!

As for the fic, well you know me. Never been one to shy away from darkness! But I believed in my author's note/ warning before chapter one started, that I talked about striving for something hopeful. Now if I can get that pulled off...otherwise I have to go to my back up plan, which would still have hope in it...but I'd be disappointed if I had to go to the back up plan ending. =/

OneTreeFan, thank you! I was pretty pleased with five myself. :D As for the whole remove the darkness from Killian without him dying, well that is something that has to do more with my back up plan ending. I have two possible endings, one I really want, and one that is my back up, in case I can't work the fic to reach the ending I want for it. But it's still a long road before I can get either set up. X_X I'm gonna need all the luck for this fic...X_X

Zerousy, thank you! Glad you liked the Emma POV so much! More Emma here, along with a small dose of the darkness, and a heaping helping of Hook! :D Though I am determined that seven should be all the captain's POV. *keeps quiet on how that will be possible.*

Yes, you and Emma are both right to not be fooled by it's so called concern. It doesn't really know how to be nice or kind, so it's more a thing of how dare someone do something to MY beloved light. It's very possessive, and very dangerous. Cora's been very lucky so far. But her luck can't always last.

I'm kinda face palming, cause I didn't think of Regina going "Let me hold the dagger and give the Dark One a command." But of course if she had, and used it against her mother...well it would have derailed my plans, and ended the fic so much earlier. As for story length, oh God, I have no idea. I have a hard task ahead of me, in terms of developing something with Killian and Emma. I have the ending I wanted when I started the story, an ending that will prove tricky for me to reach. I hope I am up to and capable of the task. But I have a back up plan ending to do if the first one proves impossible to work out. But I can't even guess at how many chapters at this point and time. I hope this doesn't prove to be a monster in length like some of my other fics for different fandoms. X_X

Angelfan984, yes, yes and yes! But for Regina, it's also a little of, she's trying to bide her time, to lull her mother into relaxing her guard, so that Regina can get the dagger from her. But yeah, she is rather...intimidated by her, to say the least!

Mandie, yes I agree. poor Emma...shes the one whose really suffering the most in the story. Even with the Queen of Hearts Cora now having free control to run wild on the people of Storybrooke, Emma's probably still the one in the worst situation out of everyone in town.

Thank you, and hope you enjoyed the look into both the darkness and Hook's head in this chapter. Seems a lot of people have been clamoring for POVS from them both. XD


	7. Chapter 7

Drowning in darkness, Killian Jones can only reach out, grabbing for a life line that simply isn't there. The darkness is worse than any sea, it's blackened waters colder than any ocean. Oozing and thick, it makes movement difficult, Killian downright sluggish as he tries to run forward only to remain forever at a standstill. Sinking deeper and deeper, the darkness is like quicksand, pulling him down faster for his struggles.

Killian Jones is already tired. Exhausted from a battle that is endless, Killian is almost ready to give up and let the darkness WIN. He's not at all sure what the outcome of his surrender would lead too, and Killian's almost too defeated to care. But he hangs on, a single sliver of memory, of worry, keeps him going, Killian fearing for Emma, for the woman who was the last sight HE had had, before the darkness had locked him down tight.

Far too privy to the wants and desires, the blatant interest the darkness has had for Emma Swan, Killian is worried. Might even be terrified for the woman. The darkness was no gentle thing, had nearly killed Emma once already. The memory of Emma's body going limp from the choking grip the darkness had used, was burned into Killian's mind, and made all the worse because he knew just how greedy the darkness was. How it hungered for the light, for the woman whose soul shined brighter than anything it had ever seen.

The darkness wanted to possess Emma, wanted to take everything from her. Quick to seize that which it wants, the darkness wouldn't hesitate to use Emma up then toss her aside. It's all too easy to imagine Emma broken at it's hands, the darkness not so much without moral compass, as simply not caring what was right or what was wrong.

Killian, never a strict stickler for good over bad, knew evil when he saw it. The darkness, a being made up of everything that was wrong with man, was sick in thought as well as in intention. Like a disease, it's corrupt touch would poison and destroy, bring out the worst out of the very best of men. What chance did a pirate stand, a man like Hook, who had killed and tortured, had used and purposefully hurt so many?

Yet for all he had done, Killian still balked at the evil that was the darkness. Still told himself there was a line he would not cross. Knowing it wasn't by much, Killian still insisted he was better than the darkness. Still actively fought against what it was trying to do. To himself, and to the world outside his prison, Killian battling to get free of the darkness, and powered by his concern alone.

Killian wasn't caring much about what the darkness might do to him, so much as what it might be doing to Emma Swan. Even if he hadn't had the Dark One's thoughts briefly in his head, Killian would have feared for her. Because he KNEW what it was capable of, how far it would go with something that displeased it. Nothing, no one was safe, the darkness a jealous, possessive, Neanderthal, murderous on it's best days.

On it's worst, it ruined lives, Killian shaking at the memory of watching Mila's heart be crushed. Rumplestiltskin eyes had been pure black, the man grinning as he watched the woman collapse into a crumpled heap on the deck of the Jolly Roger. Killian hadn't understood then, but now he knew. KNEW that it hadn't entirely been Rumplestiltskin, but a man possessed by the ultimate in monsters.

Trapped as Killian now was, Rumplestiltskin hadn't been able to truly control the darkness. Might have even given in to it's temptations time and time again, especially when he was displeased. But he was one step above Killian, for at least Rumplestiltskin had managed to coexist with the darkness for a time. Killian didn't even have that, locked down tight in a prison of the darkness' own making. Suffering for his sins and Rumplestiltskin's misdeeds against the darkness, the Dark One wasn't about to let Killian learn how to contain it the way it's previous host had.

And so it tried to smother him in that cold, shadow filled place. Tried to break Killian down, tried to strangle the fight out of him. Ready to leave him simply to tired to even try to fight back, the darkness worked to contain the true owner of the body it and the pirate now shared.

For now it was succeeding, Killian blind, deaf, and mute to the world outside his prison. The darkness had sealed off his senses, but it couldn't control the pirate's thoughts, the clear cut worry that was constant. His thoughts always, always returned to Emma, and to the fears he had for her. To the wishes he had, the reason he fought so hard to gain back control. Killian wanted to reach out to Emma, to stop the darkness if he could. To spare her, to actually save her, his concern a selfless thing.

His concern wasn't exactly the kind of thing the darkness could understand. What use was caring about another person, about their safety and well being, their feelings? The darkness doesn't understand and so it underestimates concern's power. Thinking it as weak as it has judged Killian's soul to be, the darkness is far too confidant. Downright cocksure and in no way on guard.

The lack of attention it gives to Killian's ever growing concern, plays a huge factor in what happens next. In the sound that reaches Killian, even as he drowns in the heart of the darkness' shadows. Killian is not sure what that faint sound is, but it draws his head up. The sound doesn't immediately repeat, leaving the man to think he had imagined it. But then, there in the distance not above but to the right of him, the faintest light that pulses with the sound is seen.

Not at all sure what is going on, Killian still reaches for the light. Still struggles to break free of the smothering darkness. It is the hardest thing he's ever yet had to do, Killian fighting for every step forward as he races towards the light. It flickers brighter every time that faint noise is heard, then dims almost dark in the following silence. It doesn't matter, he's seen what he hopes is a way out, Killian taking great lurching steps until he reaches the fading light, and falls into it.

Killian sits up with a shout, actually feels as though he had slammed chest first into rock. Killian breathes heavily, his hoarse pants not half as sweet a sound as whatever had reached through to him in the dark. He doesn't hear it now, not over his loud rasping breaths. Killian just sits there, a bed sheet tangled around his bare legs, his skin damp and sticky, and not all of it is sweat.

Not bothering to look at his body, Killian is staring straight ahead. Staring at a torn map he's studied often in the past, Killian realizing he's still on his ship, is actually in his own private bedroom cabin. It is not as he had last seen it, the room actually wrecked. Furniture is knocked over, in one case broken, and things have been tossed aside as though battered by winds. A map is actually on the floor, books scattered, and treasure spilled.

Messy though the room is, Killian is still glad to see it. Still ready to laugh in relief, thinking the worst is over. He's not knowing what his break was, what had allowed him to escape the darkness, Killian is not even wondering if the darkness is gone for good. He's simply too busy thanking his lucky stars, grateful to be free of that shadowy prison, to be able to breathe, and see, to even laugh.

And then he hears it. That sound again, louder than it had been inside the Dark One's prison. Killian's joy stills, his body freezing in place, as he realizes he is not alone, that there is someone in the bed with him. He doesn't want to turn, doesn't want to see, because the sound that he's been hearing? It is the sound of muffled tears. A woman is crying, and not just any woman. Killian recognizes her voice, though he is not at all familiar with her tears.

Holding in bitter tears, Emma Swan is doing her best not to break down completely. She goes whole minutes without so much as a sniffle, but even her best attempts can only muffle her anger and exhaustion for so long. Killian hears the chief emotions in the grief she does voice, and knows that not only was he never meant to hear them, Emma Swan was never meant to be made to feel this way.

Broken.

Bracing himself for the worst, Killian still flinches when he turns to look at Emma. Even with her back to him, Killian can see the damage. The bruises from where the darkness had touched her, the way her skin is paler than it should be. Worse yet, Killian sees blood, and he has no idea WHO it belongs to, and is too scared to ask.

Killian looks at Emma, and not only feels concern, but GUILT. Knowing he put at least part of this in motion, that it was his fault that the darkness had been unleashed, and wondering if his own desires had somehow twisted the Dark One's own actions, Killian realizes that his revenge just hadn't been worth it.

Not when it's cost this much, has hurt so many, has hurt THIS woman in particular. Killian stares at Emma's back, and for once he's not fighting, not fearing what she could someday become to him. The healing that she represents, the chance for him to get over his loss, to actually move on from Mila's death is no longer anything that can frighten Killian. Not when he's dealt with the darkness firsthand. He looks at Emma and sees his hope, and then she makes that sound again.

That angry sound of a woman hurt, a woman grieving, makes Killian flinch. Actually cringe with the thought that his realizations may have come too late, that his hope may be broken before he can truly reach for it. He wants to scream with anger at what he has helped cost them, what his repeated attempts to push Emma away from him have done, he's almost too far gone to respond to HER needs.

But then Emma makes another muffled attempt to hide the fact she is trying not to cry. That reaches past his own self centered upset, Killian reacting, reaching to not only lay a hand on Emma's shoulder, but to turn her towards him. Several things happen at once, the woman tensing. Killian realizes his mistakes, that he shouldn't have tried to touch her with the hand of the body that had been violating her. He goes to draw back, but Emma turns and comes out swinging.

The next moments are intense, Emma repeatedly striking Killian with her fists. He reacts to stop her, grabbing at her, hauling her upright into his arms, Killian trying to restrain and calm her, and getting slapped and clawed for his attempts. He endures each blow, actually feels his blood spill, but the skin Emma splits heals almost immediately. It gives him an idea of how things might have gone down, Emma fighting but ultimately succeeding in doing nothing but tiring herself out.

Just as she's doing now, trying to hurt that which she can't, Emma not even truly seeing who she is attacking. She certainly doesn't recognize it's Killian and not the Dark One, certainly doesn't register the patience the pirate is showing, or that he's not hitting her back. And above all, she doesn't take time to look in his eyes, to notice that there is no black showing, Kilian's gaze clear of the darkness and bright with worry.

Emma fights, and Killian lets her, is still holding her when she finally sags in exhaustion. Her face is red and tear streaked, Emma letting out a great hiccup of sound. She's not looking at him, actually collapses against him with her head resting against his shoulder. He can hear how hard she breaths, the great heaving pants of sound she lets out. It just makes his guilt all the worse, Killian sitting there, holding Emma and trying to think what to say. But what can he say, what can he possible do, when there seems nothing can fix what has already happened. I'm sorry just doesn't seem good enough, even though he means it, feels it and regret with every inch of his being.

"Emma..." He chokes on her name, has to swallow and pause a second, before he tries again. "Emma...what...what happened?"

Doing nothing in response, Emma just sits there quiet. Killian is sure she hasn't heard him, actually wonders if she has passed out against him. He doesn't try to touch her again, not wanting to trigger another violent outburst or worst yet her tears.

"What happened?" He repeats, louder this time. His voice is bewildered, showing how he is confused by what he thinks he knows. "I mean, last time I saw you, you were...that is...we were...we were about to have sex." And then the darkness had taken control, had trapped Killian in the shadows, and had done something that made Emma fear it.

"Emma..."

The blonde shifts, actually lifts her head up so that her gaze is on him. He is pinned by that look, by the anger that is now blazing in her eyes. The anger is still a better look than her grief or her fear, Killian far better equipped to deal with an Emma that is mad than an Emma that is crying.

"Hook." She says, and the words come hissing out of her. "You're back."

Killian nods. "How long has it been? How long since..." Her fist catches him across the cheek, stopping his questions as Killian bites down on his own tongue. Emma is screaming, and it's an angry sound, but also a hurt one.

"You left me!" She snarls, her eyes bright and blazing. "You left me with that...that thing!" She is trying to hit him again, and screams even louder when he grabs hold of her wrist. It sets off an even more intense struggle, the two fighting and ultimately falling over, Killian pinning Emma to the mattress with his body.

"I had no choice!" He screams down at her, watching the panic try to take over her gaze. "That THING took control, actually took my body away from me! You think I WANTED to leave you with it, knowing what it wanted to do...with the danger it posed to you and your family?!"

Emma was shaking her head, her eyes tightly closed as her body trembled. Killian let out a deep breath, trying to calm himself and lower his voice. "Cora wants you dead. Wants the darkness to kill you and your family..."

"Not anymore." Emma abruptly says, her eyes opening to revealed a troubled gaze. Killian frowns, not understanding. "You've been gone a long time Hook." She says, and relaxes her body, no longer tense or trying to fight him.

"Not that long for Cora to ever change." Killian tries to speak with conviction, but he is fearing Emma speaks the truth, that he has lost more time than he had first thought, and that things are about to be made more awful than he could possibly have anticipated.

Emma lets out a bitter sound, a half chuckle half sob as she lean back tiredly into the mattress. "She's gotten worse, if you can believe it." Emma grimaces. "But then I suppose ultimate power does that."

"Ultimate power?"

"She controls the darkness." Emma explains. "And she is not at all shy about using it. Or me..." The last is said almost too softly for Killian to hear, the man giving Emma a sharp look.

"What does that mean?" He demands.

"I'm it's reward." Emma says in a bland, neutral tone. "The treat that Cora uses to try and tame the darkness."

Killian is flabbergasted, gaping with an open mouth at Emma. "That bitch." He finally says, and Emma lets out a shocked bit of laughter.

"I've called her worse." She admits. "We all have."

"We?"

"Take your pick. Just about anyone in Storybrooke has cursed Cora's name, though not many will do it to her face. Not if they want to survive." Emma explained. "Storybrooke is not as you remember it." Emma says with a sigh. "Perhaps nothing is..."

"I can't have been gone long enough for everything to change that drastically!" Killian protests. The look Emma gives him plants the first seed of doubt, one Killian tries to ignore. "I can't have..."

Emma just stares at him, neither angry nor sad, just accepting of reality as it now is. Killian realizes he can believe her, that it's been more than a few hours since he had first kissed and groped Emma. It has to be, for her to be this way, this broken and tired. And yet he doesn't want to accept it, scared to ask, but doing so anyway.

"How long have I been gone?" He starts to shake her, when Emma doesn't immediately answer. "How much time have I lost?!"

"A week!" She snaps at him. "You've been gone for almost a week!"

To say she has shocked him would be an understatement, Killian actually gasping. He then drops his hold on Emma's arm, letting her slump back against the mattress. She reaches up to cover her face, actually shakes with emotion a second before Killian realizes she has finally given in to her tears.

To Be Continued...

Sorry, another short chapter. I had a real hard time of this one. I actually had a different first attempt, then realized the way I was writing Hook breaking free of the darkness to resurface was being written in a way for stuff that is gonna go on in a much later chapter. I did like how I was able to rewrite it, but I had such a hard time once it came time to Hook and Emma talking.

It was supposed to be more comfort than actually happened. X_X And I worry people will complain that Emma cried in any way. But I had two friends reassuring me that any one would cry in this kind of situation even a strong person like Emma.

Also...I feel I should warn you...not sure when the next chapter will be. I'm at what is what I think is a very hard part to write. The comfort part of hurt comfort genre, the development of Hook and Emma and how they will feel and act towards each other. And the darkness isn't gone by any means. I actually want to try and start the sequel of that other fic I owe to those who read Light Grasping Darkness. But I also would like to take a break from all this heavy dark stuff to try and write something fun and light and happy. Unfortunately it seems all my Once fics are heavy on angst even without the levels of dark that this Beyond Darkness fic has. The one fic that doesn't have a huge angst factor (yet!) is a Hook Belle one called Taken, and I've really been eyeing it to write an update for as well. Heck I owe updates for a lot of my Once fics at this point...X_X But I'm kinda feeling burnt out on heavy themes and elements. *pulls hair out in frustration*

I also had really bad sleep so this delayed this chapter as well! I'm also feeling doubtful again...which is not good or productive for writing. I really hope I don't let it bother me to the point I change how long Hook has been gone fic wise.

-Michelle

Alpha Huntress, thank you! As you can see, even in this chapter she still hasn't stopped fighting completely. Though even an hour has got to be rough, let alone a week later. X_X When I first tried to write Emma being defiant and threathening to Cora, I wrote myself into a corner. Originally I had Emma threaten that she was gonna kill them, and Cora was all ha ha what can you possibly do in that state. And I was so stumped cause Cora seemed right at that time. So I had to trash some of the scene, but was happy with what I rewrote.

And don't worry, I don't consider you a monster! *hugs* And thanks regarding how I've been handling Regina and her feelings, views on what is happening. On her trying to somehow make things better.

One Tree Fan, oh my goodness, that is a very good suggestion, and one I actually want to use for a little later I the fic. So thank you so much for that! *hugs*

Mandie, oh thank you! That made me happy to read! Hope the Hook chapter lived up to expectations...I do like the first half of it...though the struggling I did with the second half, makes me biased against at least half of this chapter! XD

Guest, thanks!

Anna thanks, I am trying my best too! Have no idea how long a fic it will be though and right now I feel drained. X_X Trying my best towards Emma and Hook too!

Zerousy, I'm giggling happy that I caught you by surprise with a Hook POV! And that the POV switching went off so smoothly. I think it's the first time I had three voices to switch between..I've done a few double POVs in the past for different fics, but first time I had to switch between three! So I was glad it wasn't too troublesome.

I do think most times it has a different sound to Hook's voice, especially when it's angry. But in the case of that line, it wasn't distorting Killian's voice at all, so it was even harder for Emma to hear, because it sounded just like the man she knew before the darkness took up home inside it. It's like it tries to trick and seduce her by acting, fooling around as close to Hook as possible. She sees through it, but a part of her wants to believe the lies if only for a little.

Oh and the rape in six, was after a whole bunch of stuff happened with Cora and Regina. I had meant for six to be more like seven, but then the triple POV happened, and I was really happy with how it was going, so went with it rather than fight and try to make it into what was done in seven. But yeah, it's sometime after the darkness tracked down the Charmings, and brought them and Henry to Cora and Regina. I'm pretty sure I am doing an Emma POV for eight, so I'll be able to have her think to herself, or tell Killian what happened then.

Angelfan984, thank you I try my best. Hopefully this chapter gives some hope, now that Killian has resurfaced and is in control of the body. Though how long before the darkness rears its head we shall see..it's going be a tug of war over his body, that's for sure!

Alpha Huntress, hello again and thank you! That was some review! Was really grinning at your enthusiasm for this story! I think the darkness doesn't have much of a moral compass if any at all! So you hit it right on the money with that observation. Surprisingly, for once a multiple POV (And with three voices no less!) wasn't hard to pull off. I don't know why, but it proved to flow for me...guess I was working magic! And I am blushing from your word choices for my writing. Thank you so much!


	8. Chapter 8

There is a split second moment, where Emma reaps the rewards of having shocked the man known as Captain Hook. A moment where she sees his eyes widen, his lips part on a gasp, the man actually gaping at her in a slack jawed manner. Once such a look on his face, his shock downright comical, might have made Emma laugh. Now instead, she feels something break inside her, the cracked walls she has used to keep her feelings in check, ripping apart. And with their collapse, her face crumples, Emma already bringing her hands up to hide behind.

But there is no hiding the fact that she is crying. Not from him, and not from herself, Emma openly weeping. Feeling the many tears slick her cheeks, big fat drops that don't want to stop, and Emma is choking on a hiccup of sound. Half laughing, half sobbing, and resenting how humiliating this all is. Because it is, Emma hurting and hating how weak this crying makes her seem. It doesn't matter that she's held off for days now, that she's kept her inner grief and turmoil limited to angry screams. Emma hates that she cries for any reason, but most of all she despises that Hook is here to see.

And yet she is unable to stop, the great sobs thundering out of her. Emma shakes with the sound, trembles underneath Hook. Curses his timing, wondering why fate could be so cruel as to allow Hook to surface just in time for Emma to have a complete and utter emotional breakdown.

It's the first real cry she's had, the first attempt Emma's made to voice her sorrow. Her muffled fight to not cry before hand, the draw that had reached past the darkness, to bring Hook to her, is nothing compared to how she cries now. Emma doesn't know it, might not have even cared if she had, but her tears were what brought Hook back. Her tears, and the concern he feels for her, the sounds she had been muffling, reaching deep within to draw him out.

In fact, Emma is not even really sure that this is Hook that is on top of her. She is afraid, far too frightened to truly hope, and the darkness has hurt her so many times already. Emma's not even sure this isn't some sick trick of the darkness, that that thing isn't playing some twisted game with her, wanting to wring out everything from her, even her emotions until she is all used up.

She's too upset to truly think. To notice the differences in behavior. She doesn't know that the darkness isn't good at acting, and is incapable of holding back on it's urges. She doesn't think to notice that this is the longest it has been on top of her WITHOUT molesting or abusing her in some way. Exhausted on all levels, Emma's too tired to realize the body on top of hers is NOT aroused.

Hook's not at all excited, and once he would have been astounded at the mere idea that finding himself on top of Emma Swan was anything but arousing. But it's not, and he's not, the man cringing as he listens to her sobbing. Hook, or Killian as he once was known, feels a great many things. Shock, horror, and most of all anger. He hates that this strong woman has been broken so, that his own body had been instrumental in hurting her. He can't stop thinking how it's all his fault, doesn't even try to cast some of the blame on Cora. It was his revenge after all. His revenge that had driven him to find and use the dagger. His hand was just as dirty as that red haired bitch's, but Emma was the one paying the price for HIS sins.

He can't even think on how to comfort her. Doesn't know how to save her from the fate Emma's been delivered into. Killian doesn't even know where the darkness has gone, but he doesn't believe it's retreat is anything but temporary. Rightfully fearing it's return, and what it will mean for Emma, Killian not even sure he should try to touch her anymore than he already has. How can he with a hand as dirty as his, a hand the darkness had used to do God knows what to hurt Emma.

Killian doesn't know exactly what has gone on, but the fact that he and Emma are both naked, is as good an indication as anything else. And then it hits him how wrong it is, how he shouldn't be on top of her clothed, let alone naked. Not after what she's been through, Killian lurching off Emma faster than he can breathe.

She doesn't stop crying, even after he's left the bed. Killian stands with his back to her, cringing at the sounds she makes, the pure tired grief she lets out. He looks around the room, at the mess that has been made, but it's noting compared to the mess the darkness has made of Emma. It's not so much how she is on the outside, but the inside that has been damaged, and Killian can't begin to imagine how to fix it.

As broken down as she feels, Emma is still aware when Hook or the darkness as she fears him to truly be, leaves the bed. She doesn't feel any relief, having learned first hand how quickly it can return. How quickly it can change it's mind, how fast it's cruel hunger can rear up. Emma has learned to fear every second the darkness is with her, knowing that all it takes is an instant for it to get aroused. Sometimes by the littlest things, such as the time she had bit her lip in an effort to keep from screaming, or the time she had touched between her legs, trying to clean up the mess the darkness had left behind.

Emma's always on edge, trying to hold still. Trying to not draw the monster's attention to her. Sometimes she's scared to breathe, and the only truly safe place she has is the reality she tries to escape to in her mind. In her mind she can do anything, can act without fear. Her thoughts are the one thing the darkness hasn't been able to claim, leaving Emma free to curse and rail against it without fear of repercussion or of her defiance twistedly arousing it.

She's learned to hold in her feelings, to bite back her temper. To sit and stew in misery, and Emma is still too scared to believe that Hook has returned, that the man has somehow broken free of the monster. Hook's lucky in that way, for it lets the man avoid the tearing into Emma would have normally given him.

But not the scared flinching, Emma reacting in pure fright when she feels the damp wash cloth against her warm skin. It's only her arm, and yet she's jerking away, lashing out with it in a wild swing.

"Easy." She hears Hook say, and Emma would have started laughing hysterically if he had made claims that he wasn't going to hurt her. "I'm just trying to..."

"Trying to what?!" Emma demands in a rude tone, the arm he had brushed the wash cloth over, held against her bare breasts. "To help me?" She scoffs then. "You've done enough."

He doesn't get angry, merely thrusts the wash cloth before her. Emma stares at him instead of the wet rag, her brow furrowed to show her complete lack of understanding.

"It's a nasty scratch." He says. "I don't want it to get any more infected than it might already be." Emma doesn't even look at her arm, staring warily at Hook. Her lack of reaction to what he says, seems to frustrate the man, the cloth dropping to lay on the bed so that Hook can run his hand through his tangled hair.

"You have a lot of blood on you." Hook continues. "Can't seem to see anything that could have caused it beyond that thing on your arm..."

"It's not my blood." Emma tells him, watching Hook blink in surprise. "Mostly." She adds, with a glimmer of a sickly smile that doesn't last, holds no true satisfaction to it. Hook, or rather the Dark One, simply healed too fast, Emma having broken nails in her attempts to claw at it. She's even gone so far as to break things against it, but even a heavy paper weight to the head, had done nothing, not even stun it.

Hook was looking at her, at the blood all over her body. Emma could tell he was processing what amounted to a lot of damage for this much blood to have been spilled. The worse part was not all of it was fresh, some of it old enough to have dried. Emma can't remember the last time she's truly taken a bath, a day, two, even three? The darkness has ruined even that experience, insisting on being a hands on participant to Emma's attempts to get clean.

The darkness involved itself in nearly every aspect of Emma's care. It practically demanded it, was fascinated by the oddest things. Not that it always knew what to do with a human. Especially one it wanted to KEEP. The first days with the darkness had been the hardest, the monster not knowing it was going too far, was pushing Emma past the limits of strength and stamina. It had nearly killed her with the sex, Emma exhausted to the point she had passed out several times in the darkness' arms.

It was one of those times, that Cora had appeared. That heartless redhead had truly looked amused by what she had walked in on, not so much chastising the darkness as giving it tips to keep Emma alive LONGER.

The darkness had been quick to act on what Cora told it, might have almost been chagrined at the thought of irreparably breaking it's toy. It learned to control itself somewhat, to not test the limits of Emma's endurance. It actually conceded to the fact Emma needed rest, and plenty of it, if she was going to stand any chance of keeping up with the darkness for long. It learned that humans, even one that had magic inside her, needed food and water on a regular basis.

Cora provided a gloating tutelage, instructing the darkness on many things. Under her guidance, it learned to lessen the force it used when it's temper was aroused so as to not accidentally kill Emma in a fit of anger.

Of course, Cora hadn't just come to help teach the darkness how to better treat Emma. She had come with her own tortures in mind, Cora wanting to tell Emma just some of the many wrongs being committed in Storybrooke. Wrongs that were influenced in part by the darkness' own presence.

It's evil was seeping into the town, infecting the people there. Only those purest of heart, were able to resist it's influence. Those naturally inclined to evil, or those that bordered between good and bad, were changing. Becoming corrupt, acting in malicious ways, stealing, threathening, even murdering. Storybrooke had changed from peaceful haven, to a town whose streets weren't safe to walk at night. And it was ALWAYS night, some magical side effect of the Dark One being given free reign to do much of what it pleased.

The town in upheaval, the chaos was overseen by Cora herself. Naming herself supreme ruler of the darkened Storybrooke, the Queen of Hearts actively sought those too good to turn evil. Pandemonium ruled, those pure of heart in hiding, but Emma refused to believe they weren't gathering their forces. Cora wouldn't be trying so hard to find them if she didn't believe a rebellion was brewing, one that might overthrow her control of the town.

Emma held on to the hope that the dwarves and Ruby, that Doctor Hopper and Gepetto were still out there. That they would unite and fight Cora, find and free Mary Margaret and David. That together these good people would put an end to not only Cora, but the darkness itself. Emma believed this because she had to, the thought that someone would end the madness she had been thrust into, that someone would save her from this nightmare she kept on living, was the only thing that kept Emma from losing her mind.

But a voice whispered deep inside her. A snide insistence that she was wrong to rely on others, to put her hopes and trust in anyone's hand. That she had already been burnt a thousand times, that no one was going to save her, that it was up to Emma to do something but it wouldn't tell her what. And most time she was too tired to even try to figure it out.

She wasn't even moving to take care of her arm, even as she knows the wound is deep and in need of cleaning. Hook tries again, picking up the wet rag, and brushing it over Emma's arm. She starts to jerk away, then freezes at his question.

"Has it really been almost a week?" Emma doesn't immediately say anything, leaving Hook to ask again. "Are you sure it's been that long...?"

And then Emma is snapping, actually snarling at him. "Of course I'm not entirely sure! It's impossible to know how much time I've lost without even the sun to keep track of!" The startled and confused look Hook gives her, makes Emma realizes he hasn't even looked out the cabin's portholes. She makes a rude noise, waving her injured arm in the direction of the nearest porthole. "Take a good look. That's what eternal darkness looks like!"

Killian already knows better than Emma thinks, what never ending darkness looks like. He shivers at the memory, doesn't look towards the porthole instead keeping his eyes on Emma. On her eyes which are flashing bright with her anger. He's not sure that brightness has all to do with her feelings, Killian having felt how warm her skin feels. He fears she is coming down with sickness, might already have the beginnings of a fever.

Emma being laid out with sickness would be making a bad situation even worse, Killian not at all sure she'd survive the darkness in that case. He resumes trying to clean her arm, thankful that the small chest with bandages and various ointments and medicines, hadn't been damaged when the darkness had tore through the bedroom.

Cleaning the scratch, then applying a cream to fight infection, Killian slowly bandages up her arm. She's still got blood all over herself but he doesn't dare try to clean her anywhere else, fearing how Emma would react.

"Are you saying it's been night ever since I..."

"Ever since you disappeared." finished Emma with a glare. "Or roughly around that time." She conceded as an after thought. "Where it goes, evil follows..."

Those words make him shiver, for Killian knows they are absolutely true. The darkness is evil, and is capable of just about anything. But he's not thinking what effect the Dark One might be having on the town, on the people of Storybrooke. His experience is still too limited, Killian only knowing what the darkness can do up close and personal. Emma is just one battered victim of the darkness, and Killian can barely bring himself to look her in the eyes let alone ask exactly what had happened, what it had done to make her this way.

He knows at some point they will have to address it. He has too many questions, is confused over the last sight he had had of Emma, before being locked up by the monster inside him. Emma had been willing if cautious in his memories, but that seductive siren was no more. Now she was angry, and when she wasn't glaring, she looked ready to cry. There were dark circles under her eyes, and bruises amidst the blood. Somehow things had gone very wrong, had gotten out of Emma's control, and Killian wasn't sure how he'd ever have a chance to help her, or a chance to fix things between them.

Since he couldn't face what had happened to Emma just yet, Killian tried to turn the conversation to something else. Something that might be easier to hear, Killian wondering about the fate of Henry and Emma Swan's parents. The boy was probably with Regina, though what condition the child would be in, Killian couldn't guess. As for Emma's parents, he feared they were dead, and yet still he asked about them, needing at least a confirmation of what he suspected.

But when he started to ask, Emma suddenly shifted, picking at the bandage on her arm rather than look at him. "Why?" She asked, with a voice of barely contained anger.

"Why?" Killian wasn't exactly sure what Emma was asking, but before he could even begin to question her, she was digging her torn and ragged nails into her bandaged arm. "Don't do that!" He snapped at her, making a grab for her wrist. She immediately lashed out, as though she had been waiting for him to get close, and Emma wasn't content to slap him just one time.

"Why did you leave me?!" She screamed, and that question was enough to make Killian just sit there and endure her slaps. They punctuated her questions, the words she shouted at him, hurting more than if she had stabbed him a hundred times over with a sword. "Why didn't you stay?! Why didn't you protect me?!"

All her hurt and betrayed feelings were coming out, Emma trying to beat HOOK up for the crimes committed against her. It wasn't just for the abuse the darkness had done. She was angry with Hook himself, feeling as though he had abandoned her at the worst possible time. She didn't understand it, might not have cared if she had known that the darkness hadn't given Hook a choice. All Emma could currently see was that he had left her with a monster, and that nothing was ever going to be okay in her world again.

It didn't matter that Hook had come back. That he was finally here. She didn't know if the darkness would return, didn't even know for sure if it wasn't already here, and just messing with her in some new way. All she could focus on was that Hook had failed her in the most essential way.

"I thought we were starting to be friends!" Emma continued to scream out loud. "I protected you from Gold! I kept him from KILLING you after you shot Belle!" She was starting to choke, feeling close to crying again. She was sure by the heat in her face, that she was turning an angry shade of red, and Emma couldn't stop screaming, couldn't stop thinking how she had protected Hook even after all he had done. There was a list of betrayals between them, and yet Emma had thought she and Hook had some kind of understanding. That they had started to move past it, that they might have been becoming friends or at the very least allies. The fact of the matter was, Emma had expected Hook to protect her in turn, if only because he owed her for the saving of his life from Gold.

Some part of her recognizes that she's not being completely reasonable, that maybe Hook hadn't really owed her as much as she thinks. That just makes Emma angrier, as does the fact that no matter how much she hits that handsome face, it never grows ugly, not even in expression. Hook is again enduring her fists and her screams, taking it all the way the darkness NEVER would. And it is at that moment that Emma finally allows herself to truly believe that this is Hook and not the monster playing games with her.

"Why didn't you protect me..." She finally whimpers and collapses. She's fallen against his chest, not caring that he's naked, that she is naked too. Emma is crying again, and that is humiliating too, as is the wish that he'd do something more than just sit there like a statue. She wants, needs comfort, craves for someone to touch her without making any twisted demands of her body in return. Emma wants to remember what it's like to be touched in a friendly manner, with no sex or rape to distort things for her.

Emma cries and she cries, and Hook just sits there. He's not saying much, not even offering up false lies to soothe her. It's still better than what the darkness would have done, how it would have jumped on her at this sign of weakness. But because it's not the darkness, but Hook before her, Emma feels free to press against him and finally give in to all the pent up feelings and fears inside her.

To Be Continued...

hoo...didn't expect to have eight written THIS soon. But when I went to bed, I started thinking actual lines or thoughts for the Emma POV...and even after I finally did sleep, they were still strong in my head, so this happened. Of course there was some Hook POV mixed in...but it was mainly a Emma POV...

Still gonna insist I dont know when nine will be written. I am determined to work on getting some other stuff done for Once Upon A Time. This fic just keeps promising, just one more chapter and then you can work on something else...IT LIES!

I guess I'm being extra loopy cause I'm tired. XD

-Michelle

Zerousy, thank you, thank you! :D So happy you loved his turn at the story. Though I'm still fretting about that chapter seven...guess I'm hard to satisfy. ^^;; Yes, he's totally the safe bet, and Emma has A LOT of rage and venting to do. Especially with how she feels abandoned by him, even though that bit wasn't his fault or choice. Hopefully some of the Cora and Darkness stuff got answered or mentioned enough to wet your imagination further! XD Sadly I still haven't gotten to explaining exactly how Snow and Charming are caught, but maybe for next chapter if Emma can stop hitting Hook every few minutes. ^^; And thank you for the added reassurances about the crying. Ever since I got flamed for chapter three, I been worrying about the crying on top of the rape moments. Was worried someone would yell at me that I am making Emma weak again. So far so good, no one has! Phew!

xoxPhoenix10, that would be telling! Wait I think I made no bones about it, the darkness isn't gone. In other words it's gonna be a tug of war for both the body and Emma...Still far from an ending of any kind.

Angelfan984, I'm happy to have him back too! It's gonna be a battle between him and the darkness though...Emma will help, as onetreefan made a great suggestion to me which works well with what I planned. Right now I imagine the darkness is kinda shocked that Hook broke through..it's like it's holding back, just watching and waiting for it's chance. I don't know if I will get to do this one scene anytime soon, but I have this scene in my head where it gets like jealous or angry at Emma and Killian interacting, and attacks the pirate. Like one second he is just standing there, and suddenly he's flung across the room, away from Emma cause the darkness is pissed. My real problem is how to balance Hook and the darkness...because the ending I want, Hook and Emma have to work through some things first. So it's like how do I do this juggling act without making it seem like they spend months in this situation. *hangs head* I may have to do my back up ending, and then have the work through some things happen after instead of before.

Guest, trying but can't make any promises. Depends on inspiration, how I'm feeling (totally need a break from this heavy stuff) and what fics are demanding I update them next. I'm gonna crash and burn if I keep updating as much as I have so quickly...

Anna, thank you!


End file.
